Trials of the Sun
by Warrior of Hope
Summary: In a region where every member of his family is seen as an excellent battler, Luke Jackson has to try with all of his might to stand out. Luke dreams of taking on the Island Challenge and Alola's recently-founded Pokemon League. On his path, Luke will have to deal with a murderous group of villains that seems willing to do anything to achieve their goals. Will he succeed?
1. The Chance to Shine

**Theme Song**

 _ **When you look around, and all seems small** (A blonde boy in a tan hat looks around a bedroom and sighs)_

 _ **You want to climb, but always fall** (The blonde boy slides backwards across the ground in pain, a small, owl-like Pokemon in his arms)_

 _ **Glancing up, your goals look far** (The blonde boy stands beneath a mountain with three figures standing above him, blocking a trophy)_

 _ **Get through the past, you'll be a star!** (The blonde boy, owl-like Pokemon, and two other Pokemon stand together on a pedestal)_

 _ **Stand up! (2) We'll win the fight!** (The owl-like Pokemon shoots a Razor Leaf, another uses Bite, and the last Pokemon uses Iron Tail)_

 _ **Look up!** (The blonde holds a gray crystal into the air with his right arm, grinning widely)_

 _ **Your future's bright!** (The blonde shakes hands with a brown-haired teen that looks a few years older than him)_

 _ **Fight hard! (2x)** (The owl-like Pokemon and a bipedal, fire type Pokemon stand across from each other in battle stances)_

 _ **Your dream's in sight** (A silhouette stands across from the blonde in a huge stadium)_

 _ **And if the fight gets too rough** (A four-legged Pokemon falls to the ground in pain)_

 _ **Your friends are there to help you up** (A blonde girl and a brown-haired boy hold out their hands to the blonde boy)_

 _ **Never hold your dreams inside** (The blonde sits on the ground as the sun sets in the west and the moon appears in the east)_

 _ **Let them out, and you will thrive!** (The blonde travels along a dirt path with the owl-like Pokemon flying beside him)_

 _ **Pokémon!**_

* * *

 **Well, everyone, I've joined the bandwagon. I'm going to write an Alola story, and it'll be in the same universe that TQG is set in. Why? Because I like Alola xD Simple enough. I think I've got an incredibly unique storyline ahead that I think you, dear reader, will enjoy. That being said, this does not follow the Sun/Moon storyline obviously. However, I hope that you will stick with it anyways. I've put a lot of hard work in, and I think you will enjoy it. But you didn't want to hear me ramble on. Without further ado, Chapter 1!**

* * *

In the mysterious world of Pokemon, every region has its own customs. For example, Fiore holds the world-famous Pokemon Rangers, the Orange Islands have their Orange League, and many regions- like Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn- host their Pokemon League. The Alola Region, however, holds the Island Challenge, a rite of passage for Pokemon Trainers in the tropical region.

The Island Challenge draws trainers from all around the world to partake in the trials. Visitors and locals alike then complete the Trial Captains' quests to earn the right of battling against each island's Kahuna, the leader of the island. In the past, when all four Kahunas were defeated, the challenger was given the right to partake in the Final Island Trial, where the individual would battle all four Kahunas in a row. However, five years ago, the Alola Pokemon League was created, replacing the Final Island Trial.

The winner of the League would be crowned the Champion of the Alola Region, making them the strongest trainer in the region. Most new trainers in the tropical islands aspire to become the Champion one day. One aspiring trainer, a seventeen-year old named Luke Jackson from Melemele Island, hopes to do just that: become the next Champion of the Alola Region. However, his night isn't quite going as well as he had hoped it would.

* * *

Tossing and turning in his bed, Luke Jackson wanted more than anything to be able to fall asleep. He was simply laying sprawled across his mattress, wishing his eyes could stay shut. He had been awake in his bed for the past two hours, unable to sleep due to his stressing about the next day.

The boy had a full head of honey blonde hair that was visible even in the darkness of his bedroom. Luke's electric blue eyes darted around his room, looking all around him, despite being able to see very little in the night.

"I finally get to receive a Pokemon from Kukui, and I can't sleep. Naturally…" the teen muttered as he stared upwards at his blank ceiling.

The seventeen year old boy was speaking of the Alola Region's world-renowned Professor Kukui, an expert on Pokemon's moves. The man often gave out starter Pokemon to new trainers once a month, and Luke was going to be given one this time.

The teen groaned once more in annoyance- a sound he had been making several times that night- as he turned onto his left side to look at his bedside table. Atop of the wooden nightstand stood an alarm clock made in the form of a Charmander's head. His open mouth held the time, and it read _2:13 AM_.

"I'm supposed to be awake and ready to leave the house at eight," he grumbled softly, his tone sounding extremely bitter. "How in hell am I supposed to be ready when I can't even get to sleep?"

Luke was normally a very optimistic guy, but when he was awake at the early hours of the morning, even he got grumpy. He turned back onto his back, hoping to get comfortable enough to sleep. He lifted his right arm up and out of his covers, stretching as he released a yawn.

His body felt relaxed, so physically, he should have been able to sleep. However, Luke's mind was running at nearly one hundred miles per hour, unable to stay calm. He was anxious, yet excited about receiving his starter Pokemon finally, but unfortunately for Luke, the worry was overtaking the excitement.

"How am I supposed to stand out at all when my family is who they are?" he asked the night sky, despite knowing there would be no reply. "They're some of the best trainers in Alola. There's no possible way that I could be better than them."

The Jackson family, like he said, was quite well-known throughout the region, each of them for their own accomplishments. His two older sisters had each earned their starter Pokemon from Professor Kukui as well, so the researcher was sure to expect big things from the youngest Jackson as well.

Sighing, Luke muttered, "I want to stand out. I want to shine." He then repeated the two sentences again and again, almost as though it was an incantation. "I want to stand out. I want to shine. I want to stand out. I want to shine. I want to stand out. I want to shine. I want..."

He kept repeating a few more times before he couldn't anymore. Almost as though it really was magic, Luke was able to finally drift to sleep, but his mind was still on his family's successes...

* * *

"Welcome back, everyone! The final match of the night is happening right now! We're here in the Battle Royal Dome, located on the beautiful Royal Avenue on our very own Akala Island!"

A stocky man was standing at the very center of what looked like a boxing ring. The man wore a black and white striped shirt and held a green and red flag in his left and right hands respectively. He then pointed to his right, at a man in a red T shirt and jeans that appeared to be around twenty-years old.

"In this corner, we have the newly-found fighter, Shaun Herron, and his Beedrill!"

A loud chorus of cheers followed the introduction, so the referee waited a bit before continuing. When the crowd died down, the man moved on. He pointed towards the man in front of him and said, "Here we have a reliable battler! It's James Bennell and Granbull!"

Like before, another portion of the audience began to cheer at the sound of fighter's name as the man in a tank top and cargo shorts grinned wildly. Like previously, the crowd soon died down, so the ref could keep on with introductions.

Signaling to his left, he announced, "And over here we have the well-loved Mia Shane and Rhyperior!"

Almost like a broken record at this point, the audience, once again, cheered loudly at the referee's announcement while the woman in a purple top and blue jeans smirked. And, once again, the crowd then died down. However, this time, unlike previously, there was a sense of excitement building in the arena as the man in the striped shirt turned around, moving towards the man that was initially behind him.

"In this corner," he began. The crowd began to cheer the loudest that they had been all night as the referee finished, saying, "Marcus Jackson and his trusty Inceroar!"

The audience was in an uproar as the final battler- a grown man unlike his opponents that all appeared to be aged around twenty- waved towards the spectators, grinning happily. The man pointed into the crowd at three young kids- two girls and a boy. The oldest girl had brown hair and appeared about twelve or thirteen. The next child- the other female- was a blonde who appeared a few years younger than the child next to her. Finally, the young boy next the blonde girl had a full head of blonde hair with one of his front teeth missing. That fact didn't stop him from smiling his heart out, though. He didn't look like he could be any older than seven or eight.

Just after that, a bell rang from above the trainers. Upon hearing the sound, the referee jogged towards the side and left the ring as all four trainers grabbed a Pokeball from their pockets and hurled them towards the ring at the same time. In a bright flash, four very different-looking creatures appeared.

The first looked like a large bee or wasp, the second was a large, purple dog, the third was a large, behemoth of a Pokemon with rocks across his body, and the fourth and final Pokemon looked was a red and black wrestler, appearing to be like a bipedal cat. At the very moment that the final Pokemon, Incineroar, was released, the three kids the challenger waved at cheered loudly, clapping and grinning from their seats.

The young boy watched eagerly as the Incineroar bent his knees and brought his right arm down close to the ground. The Pokemon was preparing for a long, tough battle, and the little blonde knew it. His bright blue eyes were nearly glued to the wrestler-like creature. Any move that the Pokemon made was instantly seen by the boy.

In the next instant, three commands were given, each of them heard throughout the arena without any problem.

"Poison Jab!"

"Close Combat"

"Rock Slide!"

In the next instant, the bee Pokemon- Beedrill- shot towards the dog- Granbull- while the purple canine dashed towards the titan of a Pokemon to his right, Rhyperior. As that happened, Rhyperior held his arms up above his chest and summoned a barrage of boulders on top of the insect. None of this was able to distract the boy in the stands, though. Throughout the whole ordeal, his eyes were still set on the last Pokemon: Incineroar.

The cat hadn't moved a single inch during the fighting of his opponents. He simply watched the brawl unfold patiently while his trainer held his arms across his chest. A small smirk found its way to his face as Marcus took one final moment to watch his three opponents fight each other, all three of them focusing on type advantages.

"Let's get this battle heated up, my friend," the grown man told his partner quietly, the same confident smirk never leaving his face. Then, louder, Marcus ordered, "Flare Blitz!"

Instantly springing into action, the Incineroar leapt forwards, dashing ahead as he launched his arms backwards. Just after he began his rush towards his three distracted opponents, a flash of flames appeared around the dual type, cloaking him completely. The fire began as a reddish hue, but soon changed as he ran.

When he met his maximum speed, only a few feet away from his opponents, Incineroar's blaze became a brilliant royal blue, symbolizing just how hot the flames were at that point. All three of the other Pokemon were now watching in terror as they could do nothing to stop the attack.

The Heel Pokemon slammed into the huddled mass of his opponents, sending each and every one of them flying. Beedrill and Granbull instantly fainted on contact: a clear sign of how powerful this fire type was. Rhyperior, however, didn't seem prepared to fall as easily.

While he was injured, the rock type was still able to stand on his feet and continue battling. The titan of a Pokemon stood proudly, glaring across the field at his opponent. His trainer, Mia, had the same look in her eye- although she was sending the daggers towards Incineroar's trainer, Marcus.

"Hit that thing with a Stone Edge!" the female ordered, her gaze never leaving the other trainer.

Nodding his head in agreement, Rhyperior thrusted both of his beefy arms high into the air. Then, as quickly as he brought them up, the rock type shot them back down, pointing at the ground in front of him. In response, stalagmites shot upwards suddenly in the boxing ring, rocketing towards Incineroar. The fire type didn't shirk at the sight, though. Instead, he simply tilted his head back lazily, looking to his trainer for a command.

Smirking, the man stated, "Darkest Lariat."

He put no emotion into the order. He said it as simply as one might give a polite greeting to a stranger on the sidewalk as they passed by. The tone didn't seem to match the situation, yet the confident smirk still stretched across Marcus' face.

Despite the seeming lack of interest by his trainer, Incineroar instantly shot forwards, another stream of flames surrounding him. This flash of fire didn't give off the same heat that Flare Blitz did, however. Instead, these flames seemed to absorb heat, making the area around him chill. The tips of the blaze tinged black as the Heel Pokemon began to spin like a top.

Then, the Alolan Pokemon rocketed forwards, still spinning. Incineroar hit the oncoming stalagmites head on, breaking through them as he continued on towards Rhyperior. The Drill Pokemon watched as his opponent came shooting towards him, fear evident in Rhypeior's face. Nothing the colossus of a Pokemon could do would stop the oncoming rocket that was Incineroar.

With a loud crash, the Alolan Pokemon shot into Rhyperior, and knocked the rock type right on his back. He was instantly knocked out, so Mia recalled the titan to his Pokeball. The reaction to the loss was instantaneous.

The crowd roared with approval as Incineroar made his way back towards Marcus. The two met in the middle of the ring, and once they were standing together, took deep bows. Once again, the spectators were in an uproar; they loved him.

The little blonde boy was one of the many screaming fans, cheering for Marcus and Incineroar as they relished in their latest victory. The whoops and whistles were all that was heard as the scene slowly began to dissolve into the darkness.

* * *

"The semifinals are definitely shaping up to be the awesome battlers that we were all expecting!"

The voice cut through the darkness as a scene began to appear. A short, stocky announcer dressed in a fancy black tuxedo sat in a large press box above a battlefield that seemed to be covered in flames. Rows of fire lined up along the edges, trapping the battlers and their Pokemon inside. Inside, though, neither of the two trainers appeared to be worried about the heat.

On the left side of the announcer, standing confidently in a trainer's box down on the field was a girl standing about 5'10". She had brown hair in a ponytail and a pair of brown eyes that were concentrating completely on the battle ahead of her. She wore a red T shirt, a pair of blue jeans, and black combat boots. Around her waist sat a Pokeball belt that held six red and white capsules.

In front of her stood an Incineroar that, while not as beefy or buff as Marcus', still seemed to be in excellent condition. He had several scratches and bruises across his body, though. Just from the sight of him, any spectator could tell this has been a long and hard fought battle.

Standing across from the woman stood another trainer. This battler, however, was male. Like the first teen, he seemed to almost exude confidence, as though he knew that his team was strong and had what it takes to win.

He had medium-length dirty blonde hair with bangs swept to his right side and sky blue eyes. The trainer wore a pair of blue jeans, a red T shirt, a black leather jacket, and a pair of black tennis shoes. He stood at about 6'1".

In front of the man stood an owl-like Pokemon with brown wings and a green, leaf-like hood. The Pokemon was nearly as tall as his trainer, too, and gave off the same sort of power the trainer did.

"This battle has come down to the final Pokemon for Alexa Jackson," the announcer began pointing towards the female. "and two Pokemon remaining for Ace Soldat." He then pointed over towards the male.

"This battle is far from over for Miss Jackson, though," he continued. "She and Incineroar have shown a remarkable amount of strength getting this far! Mister Soldat hasn't gone through more than three Pokemon at any point in the League until now!"

The crowd began cheering for Alexa at that point, and the girl's eyes finally strayed from her opponent for a moment. They searched through the crowd for a moment until the two spheres locked in on three figures in the crowd. A grown man, a girl a little younger than Alexa, and a blonde boy were all cheering louder than anyone else in the audience, and the sight of them made the battler smile.

Just after that, though, she refocused on the battle just in time to hear her opponent yell, "Sinister Arrow Raid!"

A combination of movements were performed by Ace as he spoke, but Alexa didn't waste time watching him. Instead, she called out to Incineroar, hoping to counter the move she knew to be extremely powerful.

"Flamethrower!"

The Heel Pokemon quickly opened his mouth widely and spewed out a torrent of red-hot flames in front of him and towards Decidueye. The Arrow Quill Pokemon didn't seem worried, though. He quickly shot into the air, spreading his wings as far out as he could as he flew. While darting through the air, arrows made of purple energy appeared out of thin air and followed the Alolan Pokemon.

Decidueye rocketed through the air at high speeds; speeds so fast that Incineroar couldn't come close to hitting him. Anytime that the Heel Pokemon tried hitting him with his Flamethrower, the grass type swerved out of the way, dodging completely.

The possibility of stopping the powerful attack from getting to Incineroar was getting lower and lower as Decidueye flew on, outmaneuvering everything the wrestler tried to do. The owl just flew on faster, getting within ten feet of his opponent.

In a last ditch effort, Alexa changed up her strategy and yelled, "Brutal Swing!"

Incineroar brought his right arm back behind him as it began to glow black. He was charging up energy, hoping to take out the rest of Decidueye's energy in one last blow, but before he had the chance, his opponent swooped in for the coup de grace.

The Alolan owl shot down right into Incineroar and flapped his wings forwards. The action stopped him from flying into his opponent, but the arrows continued on, allowing Decidueye to escape before being hit. Each and every one of the projectiles slammed into Incineroar and created a massive explosion filled with purple energy.

When the smoke cleared, Incineroar was seen lying across the ground fainted while Decidueye was standing in front of Ace, perfectly fine and uninjured. The crowd roared with cheers at the sight, in awe at the amazing battle they had seen: a battle that will go down in Alola League's history as one of the best.

Alexa recalled her partner and couldn't help but release a sad smile. She may have lost, but this was the semifinals. That places her as one of the four best trainers in the region. That comforting thought was all it took for the girl to begin grinning widely as photographers' cameras went crazy.

Like before, the image soon disappeared and was replaced with darkness.

* * *

When the dream changed once again, the scene was that of a canyon. A small group of people were standing in front of a tall tree with no leaves. The tree looked as though it was dying, yet a strange sort of energy still seemed to be coming from it.

Five people were at the grove. Among them were the Jackson family: Marcus, Alexa, and two other blondes. One of them was female and the other male. The girl- the older of the two blondes- stood about 5'7" and had a pale skin tone with bright blue eyes. She wore a simple white dress that went down to her knees with a black belt around her waist. The boy was about the same height and wore only a pair of blue jeans, a gray T shirt, and black tennis shoes.

The regal-looking girl stood next to the fifth person: a blonde man wearing blue jeans, a red T shirt, a black leather jacket, and like the blonde boy, a pair of black tennis shoes. He seemed to be the same age as Alexa, and the Jackson family seemed somewhat familiar with him.

"Hello, Jacksons," he greeted with a small smile. "I'm glad to see all of you here to support Nicole."

The man pointed towards the blonde girl, who smiled at the comment. She didn't say anything, though, so the man continued on.

"As you all know, Mina has resigned from her position as Fairy Trial Captain." He paused for a moment, and the Jacksons all nodded their heads, smiling. "So, as Champion of Alola, it is my job to replace her with another suitable fairy type user."

The family smiled even wider upon hearing that, glad to formally hear what they had all been guessing when the Champion asked them to come. Seeing that, the man nodded his head.

"I can see that you've all figured out who I would like to replace Mina," he continued, smiling slightly again. After the family of four nodded their heads, the Champion took one step forwards, towards the blonde girl. "I'm asking you to become the next Fairy Trial Captain, Nicole. Will you accept the position?"

Her jaw nearly dropped for a moment; guessing what he was going to say had in no way prepared her to formally hear it. However, Nicole was quick to recover and nodded her head.

"Yes, sir. I would be honored to have the spot of Trial Captain."

The man smiled once again before releasing a large bird Pokemon. He then bowed his head slightly, silently giving his farewell, having decided to leave them alone to celebrate. The man turned towards his Pokemon and climbed onto its back. Before he could kick off, though, he heard something from behind him.

"Thank you, Ace," Nicole told the man, the smile on her face the widest she'd ever made. "I'm honored you thought of me and will do the best I can. I promise."

Nodding his head, the Champion responded, "I know you will. It's why I knew you'd be the perfect fit." He paused for a moment after that. "Congratulations, Nicole."

With that, the man- Ace- left on his Pokemon's back. The young blonde boy watched the Champion go with a look of awe in his eyes. This was the strongest trainer in the region, and the boy had been looking up to him for years.

The dream then faded again as Ace flew off. This time, though, it didn't shift into another memory. Instead, a loud ringing was heard.

* * *

The sun was shining brightly in the sky when the alarm clock in Luke's room began to go off. The digital clock laid on the bedside table, the Charmander smiling as the beeping noise cut through the silence of the morning.

 _7:00 AM_

The blonde let out a long, exasperated sigh upon seeing the time, clearly wishing that he could have gotten a lot more sleep than he did. However, he knew this was a big day. Laying in bed wallowing in his lack of rest would do him no good.

"It doesn't mean it isn't a comforting thought…" he muttered to himself.

Luke still climbed out of bed, though, and lumbered over towards his bathroom at the far side of his room. There was one advantage to being the only son of three kids: Luke had a bathroom to himself while his sisters had to share one.

He climbed into the shower, turned on the hot water, and got himself ready for the day. Like the comfort of his bed, Luke didn't want to leave the warm confines of the shower, either. It took the thought of finally being able to have his starter Pokemon to push him out.

He went to dry off and get dressed in his usual, yet simple garb. Luke wore a blue and white striped shirt, tan cargo shorts, and a pair of black tennis shoes. The teen did a once-over of himself and as soon as he saw what himself in the mirror on his wall, frowned. Luke bent down onto the ground and scanned for the final part of his outfit.

The search took him a moment, but he soon found what he was looking for. Laying on the side of his bed opposite the night stand was a small, tan porkpie hat. The sight of the hat brought the first smile of the day to Luke's face. He shot over towards it, and placed the cap on his head. Then, turning back towards the mirror, he looked over himself one final time. Finally happy with the look, the blonde left his room and walked down a hallway towards his kitchen.

When he entered the room, Luke wasn't at all surprised to see the rest of his family sitting at the table, lightly chatting while dad drank his morning coffee. The teen then sniffed the air and noticed the scent of bacon and sausage coming from the room. That caused the second smile of the morning.

"Good morning, Luke," Marcus Jackson greeted.

The man was clearly older now than he was in the blonde's dream, but Marcus didn't seem to have aged much, despite it being nearly ten years. He was a few inches taller than his son, standing at a height of about 6'1" and had the same mix of blonde hair and blue eyes Luke had. Unlike his son, however, Marcus had much more of a tan apparent. The man wore a pair of pajama pants, a plain white shirt, and a pair of slippers.

 _'The joys of being a retired pro, I suppose,'_ Luke mused.

The teen then turned his head away from his father just as two voices greeted him.

"Morning, bro."

"Good morning, Luke."

The next two voices came from the other two figures at the table: the teen's sisters, Alexa and Nicole Jackson. The two girls were sitting at the table eating their breakfast.

Alexa sat in her chair, the two back legs holding her weight while the front legs were dangling above the ground. She had long brown hair that went halfway down her back and brown eyes that had a sort of fire to them. She was wearing a pair of black jeans, a gray undershirt, and a red jacket that seemed to accentuate the ferocity showing in her eyes. Alexa had barely glanced up when she greeted her brother and as soon as she did, went back to scarfing down her pancakes, bacon, and sausage.

Nicole sat next to her sister, but unlike the other girl, appeared to be much better mannered. She had her chair down upon the ground with all four legs touching the kitchen floor. The girl had blonde hair that reached her shoulders and two bright, blue eyes. Nicole was a lot less tanned than her family, almost looking pale, despite the tropical region they lived in. She smiled at Luke as he walked in, but then also quickly went back to focusing on her breakfast.

"Good morning, all," the boy responded, smiling a bit as he nodded his head towards his family members: his usual sign of greeting.

Luke arriving to the table last wasn't unusual, so no one was all that surprised when he came walking into the kitchen while everyone else was eating. He simply continued on with his morning routine, grabbing a plate of pancakes and breakfast meat then heading to the table. They didn't usually have anything special like this for breakfast, but apparently Marcus had woken up a little early to make pancakes for the family before Luke went to visit Kukui.

The blonde sat down at the table and began eating without another word, the lack of sleep still at the forefront of his mind. Luke was trying to relax a little longer before leaving, knowing he was going to have a long day. His family didn't start up any conversations with him either. Alexa and Nicole just continued on with their light chatting between themselves while Marcus read the paper. It wasn't until after breakfast, when Luke was cleaning up the table before he left, that Marcus decided to spark a conversation.

"How'd you sleep, kiddo?" he asked, a smile on his tan face.

Luke grimaced mentally at the question, knowing what answer his father was expecting. Marcus thought he would receive the same confident sort of answer that Alexa or Nicole would have given him: that they slept perfectly fine and were ready for their first day as a Pokemon trainer.

 _'If only that's how it was,'_ he thought bitterly.

Luke was excited to have his starter Pokemon, but he wasn't feeling confident. He had no way of becoming as great as his family was. They were all well-known throughout the region, and he was supposed to live up to that.

 _'Like that's gonna happen.'_

Aloud, though, Luke faked a smile as he answered, "I slept just fine, thanks. I dreamt about journeying across the region."

It wasn't true, but the teen figured that a response like that was his dad was hoping to hear. He definitely guessed correctly, too, because Marcus began to grin after hearing that.

"It sounds like you're certainly looking forward to leaving tomorrow then."

The father's tone sounded slightly sad at the thought of his youngest child- his only son- leaving home. At the same time, though, Marcus seemed to be proud. Luke sensed that and let out the third sincere smile of the morning.

"I think I am, dad," he answered honestly.

A sad smile seemed to form from the grin that previously sat upon Marcus' face.

"Then you had best get on your way, son. You don't want to leave Kukui waiting."

His father's eyes were sparkling, and Luke couldn't help but smile once more. His smile count went up to four as Luke grabbed his backpack he had set by the table the night before as he went to go to bed.

Marcus walked with Luke as he went towards the door. His sisters were sitting on a couch in the living room, smiling to their little brother as he walked to the exit of the house. Luke gave them a smile- he was now at five- then walked out from the door.

The blonde stepped out into nature and felt the sun's rays shoot into the back of his neck. Iki Town: a nice, simple village. The Jackson family had been living here since Luke's father and mother were married, and only now was the teen taking his first steps towards leaving.

Marcus stopped in the doorway and watched as his son stepped out into the yard. The blonde boy turned back once towards his father and spotted the proud look the man wore. Luke quickly turned back around, though, not trusting himself to not get emotional. He waved back at Marcus before walking away, towards Route 1.

"I'll be back later before it gets dark!" Luke promised.

Marcus didn't say a word as he watched his son hike away. Instead, he finally allowed the sole tear he had been holding to fall to the ground, pride for his son deep in his heart. The man then turned back towards the house and walked inside.

Luke, though, continued on his way until he knew he was out of sight from his house's windows. When he was certain that he couldn't be seen, he suddenly stopped. The blonde released a deep sigh. He looked up into the sky and closed his eyes tightly.

"I want to stand out. I want to shine."

Luke muttered the same phrase he had used like a spell the night before in the hopes that it would reassure him. He thought of all of the chances that were open to him as soon as he received his starter Pokemon.

Friendship.

Adventure.

Excitement.

All that and more waited on him; it was his future. Luke then surprised himself. For no reason, he released the sixth sincere smile of the morning. He couldn't help it.

"This is my chance to shine!" he cheered giddily, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

The overbearing weight and worry that he had been carrying around since the night before- the thoughts of being inadequate- were finally pushed away from the forefront of his mind. They weren't gone; the fears never left. But this was the first step.

And Luke was proud.

"This is my chance to shine!"

With that, Luke pressed on, moving towards the entryway of Route 1. Nothing could hold him back now.

* * *

 **Well there we are. I hope that wasn't too painful xD There wasn't a whole lot of depth in this chapter, but it's the pilot. Who was expecting a fully-fledged plot in one chapter? xD Alexa and Nicole definitely didn't have super-long segments (Mostly Nicole), but that's more due to them still being young, unlike Marcus. They still have time to write their stories (Metaphorically. I'm not writing a story about them xD) while their dad is retired. Anyways, I'm hoping that you enjoyed this so far. Thanks for reading!**

* * *

 **1\. What are your first impressions from the story?**

 **2\. Anything you really want to see in this story? (Certain character, plot moment, etc…)**

 **3\. Possible team predictions? (Pokemon from any region is fair game)**

 **4\. Arc Predictions?**

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** _Hoot for Hood!_

 _On his way to Professor Kukui's laboratory, Luke meets up with an old friend of his. She, like the blonde, is hoping to receive a starter Pokemon from the world-renowned researcher. When they get to the lab, however, they are not the only two prospective trainers there. With two others there, who knows which Pokemon that Luke will get!?_

* * *

 **Melemele Arc**

 **Chapter 3:** The First Steps

 **Chapter 4:** The Expert Soldier

 **Chapter 5:** Duped by the Dex!

 **Chapter 6:** Battling for Brunch?

 **Chapter 7:** Standoff in the Sand!

 **Chapter 8:** First Taste of a Trial

 **Chapter 9:** Dimming the Star

 **Chapter 10:** Feeling the Heat!


	2. Hoot for Hood!

**Theme Song**

 _ **When you look around, and all seems small**_ _(Luke looks around his bedroom and sighs)_

 _ **You want to climb, but always fall**_ _(Luke slides backwards across the ground in pain, a small, owl-like Pokemon in his arms)_

 _ **Glancing up, your goals look far**_ _(Luke stands beneath a mountain with three figures standing above him, blocking a trophy)_

 _ **Get through the past, you'll be a star!**_ _(Luke, an owl-like Pokemon, and two other Pokemon stand together on a pedestal)_

 _ **Stand up! (2) We'll win the fight!**_ _(The owl-like Pokemon shoots a Razor Leaf, another uses Bite, and the last Pokemon uses Iron Tail)_

 _ **Look up!**_ _(Luke holds a gray crystal into the air with his right arm, grinning widely)_

 _ **Your future's bright!**_ _(Luke shakes hands with a brown-haired teen that looks a few years older than him)_

 _ **Fight hard! (2x)**_ _(The owl-like Pokemon and a bipedal, fire type Pokemon stand across from each other in battle stances)_

 _ **Your dream's in sight**_ _(A silhouette stands across from the blond in a huge stadium)_

 _ **And if the fight gets too rough**_ _(A four-legged Pokemon falls to the ground in pain)_

 _ **Your friends are there to help you up**_ _(A blonde girl and a brown-haired boy hold out their hands to Luke)_

 _ **Never hold your dreams inside**_ _(Luke sits on the ground as the sun sets in the west and the moon appears in the east)_

 _ **Let them out, and you will thrive!**_ _(Luke travels along a dirt path with the owl-like Pokemon flying beside him)_

 _ **Pokémon!**_

* * *

 **Well, everyone, we're on to Chapter 2. Who'd have thought we'd get this far? xD Anyways, last time Luke couldn't get to sleep the night before getting his first Pokemon. He dreamt about his family's successes and wondered if he'd be able to match them, let alone shine brighter. He woke up quite worried, but by the time he left, Luke was feeling more confident. He was ready to shine as brightly as he can.**

 **For the first part of this chapter, if you are a music lover like myself, I recommend listening to the extended soaring theme from ORAS. It definitely fits the mood I'm going for in the beginning, at least until Luke arrives at the lab. Then, if you want more music, Hau's theme would probably fit the best.**

* * *

 **Tomoe Mami:** To start, let me just thank you for the first review of the story! And for the fact that you read and reviewed within five minutes of me posting! Awesome! While I agree that Litten's line is great (And Darkest Lariat is amazing), Luke doesn't get a Litten as you'll see here this chapter :( Hope that doesn't turn you off from the story, though :) I'm glad you're liking the story. I hope to impress you! Thanks for the review!

 **Delta Edge:** I'm glad you seem to be as hyped about TotS as I am! I love the enthusiasm! There'll definitely be a League conference, but as to the rest, I'm not sure. I kind of like the idea of unique Z-Crystals, so thanks! A couple of your team and arc predictions were right, so kudos to you! Thanks for the review!

 **El Torro:** I'm sorry to disappoint you xD I hope this chapter was posted closer to your expected time frame ;) xDDD Luke's ambitions are going to drive him for quite a while. His character is going to be really fleshed out by the end of Chapter 10, I think. I hope I'll be able to do him justice compared to what I have in my head. I like the idea of a tournament! I may add it in later! As to your predictions, you've got about half correct! Congrats! Thanks for the review!

 **ShadowDragon9000:** I'm glad you're excited! And that you seemed to really enjoy it! My writing has gotten a lot better recently thanks to my english teacher, so I'm glad you appreciate the fruits of my labor xD I'm glad you're liking the characters thus far! There's more to come! Thanks for the review!

 **Blaze Falcon:** I'm glad you're liking my characters so far! I put a lot of work into making them different than some of my previous characters, so I'm glad you appreciate them! As to Hau and Gladion, they might show up eventually ;) A couple of your arc predictions were right, too, so good job! Thanks for the review!

 **Farla:** I appreciate your comment on the height thing, and I understand what you meant. I didn't catch that, so I'm glad for the help! As to your snide comment about how the first chapter should contain huge amounts of plot already, I'd love to see an example like that. Please show me a story that reveals the entire plotline in one chapter; prove me wrong. I don't think it happens 99% of the time. As for capitalization, I disagree completely. However, your opinion is your own, so feel free to comment about it. Just know this: I believe I do it right, so I'm not going to change just because you think you're right about everything :) In my opinion (I hope that since I'm alright with you having one, you allow me this small pleasure as well), I don't think trainers should be 10-11. Would anyone that age actually survive on their own in the wilderness for days on end, no town or city for miles? More than likely they would die, in my opinion at least. Being older also gives room for more relationships (Platonic and romantic) to form in my opinion. Thanks for the review anyways, though. I always appreciate feedback.

 **TheGreat0ne:** To start, it's good to hear from you! It's been awhile! I'm glad that you found my update here, because I really appreciate your feedback :) I'm glad you seem to really enjoy my writing; all of the work I put into getting better must've paid off! I'm not going to say who, but there will be a character or two coming back from TQG ;) Thanks for the review!

 **Loveon:** It's good to hear from you! It's been quite a long while! I hope you're well! I really appreciate all of your kind words, but I hope to improve still :) Don't worry about not being sure about what lies ahead; that means I can surprise you! xD Thanks for the review!

PhantomGalaxy13: I've already replied to you via PM, so all I have to say here is thanks for the review!

 **herefordsnowmad12:** Looking back at it, I can see what you meant by saying it was confusing. I never really specifically stated there was a timeskip. I'll have to do that next time! Thanks for that! I hope that, like you said, I'll get you to really love Alola, despite the fact that you didn't overly enjoy SuMo! Thanks for the review!

* * *

The sun was shining brightly as Luke Jackson walked through Iki Town, and it didn't seem as though anything could go wrong for the teen. He was on his way to Professor Kukui's lab where he was finally going to get to have his own starter Pokemon like his sisters had done before him.

The blond was just walking along, his hands tucked deep in his pockets as the slight breeze blew his hair a bit beneath his porkpie. Iki Town could have been defined as the very definition of calm at that moment in Luke's opinion. Most of the village's residents were either still asleep or hadn't left their homes yet, so few people were walking around like Luke was.

That fact made any other figure very easy to see, so when Luke got closer to Route 1, he spotted a girl leaning against a palm tree with a phone in her hand immediately. He smiled at the sight of her, clearly know who the other teen was. He then sped up his pace slightly- not running or jogging, but walking faster nonetheless- to meet up with her.

When Luke got about twenty feet away from the tree the girl was at, she looked up suddenly, having heard him. Like the other teen, the girl smiled at the sight of the blond boy. Like Luke, she had blonde hair, but unlike his darker honey-like shade, she had a lighter, almost white, shade of blonde hair.

"Abby!" Luke called, smiling at the girl.

"Good morning, Luke," she replied.

The girl- someone named Abby- stood on her own two feet after the greeting, no longer leaning against the palm tree for support. She put her phone in her pocket, began to walk over towards Luke, and at that moment, the boy took a look at what she was wearing.

Abby had a blue long-sleeved shirt on, a pair of black denim shorts, and a pair of white tennis shoes on her feet. The girl stood a few inches shorter than her friend at about 5'7", but none of the above was what really stood out about her. In Luke's opinion, the first thing anyone should have noticed about Abby was her eyes. They were two bright blue spheres that had about the same shade as a calm afternoon sky.

"I'm glad to see you're here at last. Trouble waking up this morning?" she asked.

Her tone made the question sound light and teasing, yet the girl raised her right eyebrow slightly as she inquired, appearing to be genuinely curious. Luke caught the movement and knew what was probably going through her head, making his mood dampen slightly. Abby knew him better than anyone else; they were best friends since before they could talk. The duo's parents were good friends, so the two aspiring trainers had known each other for nearly their whole lives. That meant he could rarely hide anything from her.

"I slept perfectly fine," he answered, his tone smooth despite the lie. "No need to worry."

However, Abby wasn't having any of what the blond was trying to give her. She and Luke were friends for way too long for him to think that she couldn't tell when he was lying, in Abby's opinion. She rolled her eyes briefly before looking at Luke dead in the eyes.

"You don't seriously think I'm going to fall for that, are you?"

Abby asked the question with a bit of an edge to it, as though this was not the first time the two had had this exact conversation. However, there was still a comforting undertone to the question, letting Luke know that the girl really did care. The boy released a sigh, realizing in hindsight that he had no chance of getting anything past the girl.

"I couldn't get to sleep until past 2:00. Happy?" he asked sarcastically.

The blond looked her in the eyes as he said it, but the second he finished, Luke looked away, now feeling the heavy burden from the night before again. He didn't want to see the look of pity that he figured would appear as soon as she digested what he said. As Luke expected, Abby's face shifted from the serious look she held to a more worrying one.

Before she could say anything, though, Luke cut in, saying, "Don't worry, Abby. I honestly am alright; I don't feel sleep-deprived in the least."

Unlike his first statement, the girl didn't doubt this one. Abby knew for a fact that he was tired, but Luke didn't appear anything less than prepared for the long day ahead of them. He wasn't going to let anyone worry about him.

' _That'd only make him seem human,'_ she thought to herself sarcastically, knowing what was more than likely going through Luke's mind. ' _His sisters were ready, so he thinks he has to be.'_

Abby wanted nothing more than to talk about this with him; she wanted to help. However, Abby also knew that if Luke didn't want to talk about something, he wouldn't.

' _He's so damn stubborn,'_ she mused, a small sad smile coming to her face.

Deciding to simply shift the subject away from that and get moving, Abby asked, "Ready to go then?"

Grateful at the change of topic, Luke smiled slightly and nodded his head. "Like you wouldn't believe," he answered.

Thus, the two began walking towards the end of Iki Town, the sleepy village still silent as they traveled. They traversed the dirt paths as the tall palm trees kept them hidden from the bright rays, the sun having begun rising already.

Luke didn't overly care for idle conversation, Abby knew, so the two walked in relative silence, the only sounds around them the cries of nearby Pokemon. The girl took a deep breath in, as if trying to absorb even a fraction of the serenity that seemed to emanate from Iki Town. Luke noted the deeper-than-usual intake and smiled a bit as he turned towards her.

"It feels weird that we'll be leaving tomorrow, doesn't it?" he asked suddenly, surprising the girl slightly.

She wasn't prepared for the question, but welcomed it all the same. She knew this was a sign that Luke must have been perking up again.

Nodding her head as a small grin appeared, Abby replied, "It does; it's crazy honestly. I still remember back when we were twelve, and we were watching Alexa leave on her own journey." She paused for a moment and stopped walking. Confused, Luke stopped as well just to see Abby looking up into the sky, her eyes shut and a wide smile now painted across her face. "It was five years ago, but I remember it just like it was yesterday."

Luke, now smiling as well, added, "She was so mad that she had to wait until she was seventeen. Alexa was so ready to just leave right at ten. She was finishing up trainer's school right when the law came out; bad time to be nine, I guess."

The boy chuckled a bit at that, recalling how furious the girl was. Abby brought her focus back down towards him just to see the blond shaking his head as he laughed. The sight made her begin giggling as well, because she, too, remembered how Alexa responded to having to wait until she was seventeen.

They continued on laughing for a bit before they decided they should keep walking. They were scheduled to meet up with one of Professor Kukui's aides at nine that morning, so the two aspiring trainers wanted to make sure that they wouldn't be late. So, they headed onwards, each of them daydreaming about receiving their starter Pokemon.

Almost thirty minutes of more walking- just a few minutes before nine- Luke and Abby saw a tall, dark-haired man standing outside a red jeep about twenty feet ahead of them. He was wearing a pair of cargo pants, a red dress shirt, and a white lab coat, appearing almost exactly like a stereotypical scientist. However, he was wearing a pair of sandals on his feet instead of a pair of loafers like a casual observer might expect.

The man smiled when he saw the two teens approaching, brought his arms out in front of him, and then waved. "Alola!" he greeted. "Are you Abby Duke and Luke Jackson?"

The teens, upon getting to the jeep, nodded their heads, answering the man's question.

"That's great!" he exclaimed, his smile growing wider. "I'm Professor Kukui's chief aide, Newton. I'm here to take you to the professor's lab!"

Nodding her head, Abby replied, "Thanks, Newton!"

Luke, too, nodded his head and said, "Thanks!"

Without another word said by any of the trio, they all filed inside the vehicle, Newton at the driver's seat and the two trainers-to-be in the back seats. Luke glanced around, taking one final glance at Iki Town before the jeep started up and sped away. As they drove, the tall palm trees and wooden homes disappeared as the sun rose higher and higher into the sky.

' _It's really happening,'_ Luke thought, his mood neutral.

He wasn't sure exactly how he felt: happy to have his Pokémon or worried he won't be as good as his family. He sighed softly, his gaze now shifting downwards as he stared at the road beneath the jeep. Dust flew up into the sky as the tires sped across the dirt path.

' _I'm going to be a Pokémon trainer.'_

Luke now felt the worry start to overwhelm him. His eyes followed the clouds of dust, rising even as the puff of dust did. While the cloud did dissipate shortly after, Luke's gaze still continued on, rising even higher. Eventually, the blond boy was looking straight into the blue sky, the bright sun now hidden behind a puffy cloud.

' _My Pokémon won't know of my family's accomplishment; he will see me for me.'_

The calming shade of blue helped to ease some of the worry he was feeling. The sky seemed to almost be sending Luke calming thoughts, even as the sun radiated heat and light. He took a breath of the refreshing island air, and the action seemed to energize the blond.

' _My partner and I will have a fresh start; nothing from the past will matter to him.'_

That final thought stayed with Luke for the rest of the ride, bringing a small smile to the teen's once-worried face.

' _This is going to be the best day I've ever had.'_

* * *

"Here we are!" the aide exclaimed suddenly nearly two hours after they had left Iki Town.

Driving certainly made the time go faster in Luke's opinion. He felt as though he had been off in his own world, daydreaming for hours, if not days. However, it had only been two hours.

' _Time flies, I suppose,'_ he mused with a slight grin.

Luke's reignited motivation to become a Pokemon trainer was now the highest that it had ever been in his life. No longer was his family at the forefront of his mind. While it was still there- it always was- Luke was able to think past it, shoving it to the back of his memory. He wasn't about to let fear or anxiety take over; Luke was in control now.

"I guess it's finally time," Abby said, smiling at her best friend from the other side of the jeep's back seats.

The blond nodded his head, smiled, and replied, "You're right. We're finally going to receive our first Pokemon...the day has come!"

The tone of voice that Luke spoke with, one of confidence with no sign of worry, slightly confused Abby, but she quickly pushed the feeling away. Her childhood friend that she cared about like no other sounded thrilled to be on the start of his journey finally, and she wasn't going to be the one to try ruining it by questioning his mood.

"That it has," Newton, Kukui's aide, said from the driver's seat.

He pulled the jeep up beside a wooden building on the beachfront with a couple of windows on each side of the structure. However, Luke didn't think anyone would actually be able to see through them, because the majority of them had wooden boards on the inside of them, appearing as though they had been hastily repaired recently.

The thought brought a questioning look up to the boy's face, but before he could say anything about the state the lab was in, a man wearing nothing more than gray baggy shorts, a white lab coat, and a pair of light green sandals walked out of the front door. A white hat with a rainbow on the front sat atop his black hair, and he wore a pair of glasses that almost looked like goggles.

"Alola, kids!"

"Alola, professor," Newton greeted with a smile, waving his arms in front of him.

The two teens turned towards each other and smiled as they realized who had just walked outside. Both of them had most definitely heard of the professor and seen pictures of him, but neither were prepared for this moment. Meeting the man they both saw as an expert of Pokemon walk outside towards them with bundles of energy seemed to make the man seem real, not at all like how they'd imagined him.

However, Abby- always the people person- snapped out of her reverie much faster than her companion. She, too, waved to the professor and gave the usual island greeting.

"Alola, Professor Kukui! It's a pleasure to meet you at last!"

The sound of Abby's voice brought Luke out of his thoughts, and the blond quickly greeted the man as well, saying, "Alola, sir!"

The joyful man, however, waved off both of the formal greetings from the kids, swiping his arm down towards the ground in front of them as a half smirk appeared on his face.

"Ah, enough of that," he told the blonde duo. "No need to be so fancy. I'm sure you're both dying to meet your own starter Pokemon, so we'll skip the pleasantries for now." Kukui then glanced between the two of them before resting his eyes on Luke. "You especially, I'm sure, are excited for your Pokemon, young man. With a family of trainers like yours, I'd be surprised if you weren't ready to finally battle with them all!"

The second he finished speaking, the professor winked at the boy then pivoted on his right foot, spinning back towards the door. Because of the speedy movement, the man missed the slight wince that appeared on Luke's face before the blond quickly readjusted himself. Abby, though, noticed, but decided to say nothing, knowing no good could come from questioning him at the moment.

However, the girl grabbed her childhood friend's left hand with her right and gave it a fast, yet comforting squeeze, hoping to be of some help. Lule smiled at her in gratitude before moving on forward, releasing her hand. Abby, too, smiled at the sight and moved on as well, both trainers now following the professor inside.

When they passed through the door, the two blondes were instantly in awe at the amount of Pokemon inside. Directly in front of the door, pushed to the wall opposite of them, was an aquarium with several different species of Pokemon swimming about inside. Some of the creatures looked like hearts, others appeared to be like small minnows with gray, blue, and white scales, and the last species of fish had red scales with yellow fins on their top and bottom.

All of the Pokémon swam together in peace, each of the species mingling with the others. The sight of the peaceful creatures swimming made both Luke and Abby smile, but a quick movement to their right soon caught their attention.

Kukui had walked straight over to a table towards the right side of the lab shortly upon entering apparently, and once he got there, the professor grabbed three red and white sphere. The man then hurled them into the air, drawing the teens' attention away from the aquarium.

"Come on out, friends," Kukui called, releasing three creatures from the Pokeballs.

The lab instantly lit up with a bright red flash as small creatures appeared upon the floor. One was an owl-like Pokémon with light brown feathers, orange talons, and wide eyes that seemed to stare right into Luke. The second Pokémon standing in the middle was a black and red striped cat with yellow eyes that seemed to scan across the room, never settling in one spot. The final creature released was like a blue sea lion with a pink, ball-like nose and bright eyes that seemed to light up at the sight of Luke and Abby.

"Hello! Hello! Hello!"

The small, blue sea lion Pokemon hopped right up to the two trainers happily with a huge smile drawn upon his face. The tiny creature wore a thin, black ring around his neck that helped him to speak  
English like the humans around him. The technology would have amazed people in the past, but for the past twenty-five years, more and more Pokemon were being given the translating rings so that they can speak to their trainers.

"One of you are going to be my trainer!?" the sea lion asked, continuing to sound energetic and happy. When the two teens nodded their heads- Abby did energetically, like the Pokemon, while Luke did so slowly, almost confused- the creature clapped his two flippers together. "Yay! Yay! Yay! All three of you look really, really, really nice!"

The Pokemon clapped happily with his eyes trained right on Abby while the girl turned towards Luke, looking mystified.

"Three of us?" the blonde asked quietly, nearly under her breath.

Luke opened his mouth to tell her that he didn't know what the sea lion meant either, but before he could, a masculine voice interrupted him from behind.

"You look really nice as well, Popplio," he said kindly, his voice displaying care yet not revealing much else.

Luke and Abby instantly snapped backwards looking at the new person that had been behind them. They saw a teen, assumedly about their age, with brown hair that seemed to be a few inches taller than Luke, possibly around six feet tall. His bright green eyes seemed to sparkle a bit as he looked at the sea lion, revealed to be a Popplio.

' _It doesn't seem like this guy is from Alola…'_ Luke thought, giving the new guy's outfit a once over.

The teen wore a dark blue pair of jeans with a Pokeball belt around his waist holding six red and white spheres. Above that, he had a red T-shirt bearing some strange symbol that looked like four circles, with one in the middle that connected to the others, one above and the other two beneath at a diagonal on either side. He wore a simple pair of black tennis shoes on his feet, finishing the look that seemed to spell out the word 'foreigner' to Luke.

The blond knew that Alolan days were almost always hot, so a pair of dark jeans probably weren't the best idea in his opinion. He simply shrugged at the thought, however, deciding it wasn't his place to judge the guy he just meant on some outfit.

"Hey Jason!" Kukui greeted with a smile. "You were so quiet over there that I nearly forgot you were here! What were you doing hiding over there?"

The teen shrugged his shoulders back and brought his head up diagonally to the right, as though in a pensive position. A small half-smirk appeared on his face, the right side of his lips curling upwards as he looked right at Luke and Abby.

"Sorry, professor," he apologized, his glance never leaving the two teens between himself and Kukui. "I was just watching some of the Pokemon you have around the lab. I've never seen a lot of them before now."

The professor puffed up at the compliment, appearing to be proud at the comment. Kukui quickly refocused, though, and turned back towards Luke and Abby to see that the two teens were still watching the new brunette with confusion.

"I'm sorry, Luke, Abby…" he trailed off. "I nearly forgot to introduce you to this fine gent here." Kukui paused slightly before showing off one of his wide smiles that so many people knew him from. "This young lad is from the Sinnoh region, and his name is Jason K-"

"-Retner."

Luke and Abby heard the quick correction come from the teen behind them just as the professor was about to finish his phrase. The teen seemed as calm as ever; his shoulders remained relaxed, and he had the same half-smirk upon his face as before. However, Luke noticed a strange tension in the room. It almost felt as though a silent fight was occurring.

The blond looked back over his shoulder to spot Kukui's head tilted to the left and his brow furrowed. The man was looking right at Jason, and he seemed to be just as confused as Luke and Abby felt at the moment. However, when the professor spotted three pairs of eyes now staring right at him- one of them holding more ferocity than the other two- he readjusted himself.

"Jason Retner," he corrected after throwing his shoulders back in a comfortable, if not relaxing position, as he brought his arms up behind his head. Kukui's fingers were interlaced as his head laid back in his palms. "And these two here are Luke Jackson and Abby Duke, Jason," he added, finishing up the introductions.

Kukui smiled at all three and brought his arms out in front of him, opening his hands as he outstretched his limbs. "Now let's get back to what you've all been waiting for now that all of these greetings are over! Pokemon!"

The professor walked forwards towards the three trainers, each of the three creatures that had been momentarily forgotten following right behind him. Jason stepped up beside Luke, who unconsciously took a step towards Abby after the action.

As soon as Kukui took his final step in front of the trio, the Pokemon behind him fanned out to make a line to the professor's right. Popplio led the charge, smiling and giggling as the two other Pokemon- the owl and cat- followed along. The three starters stood, waiting for Professor Kukui to continue. The man then took a step to his left, away from the Pokemon and looked to the fledgling trainers.

"Well, you three, here are your starters!" Kukui exclaimed, a wide grin on his face. "Each of you will get to pick one of these lovely Pokemon." He paused for a moment, giving them a chance to look over each of the creatures. A few seconds later, he continued on, saying, "You'll pick one at a time, and…" He turned to look directly at Luke and Jason before grinning widely again. "We'll try to show that chivalry isn't dead. I hope the two of you won't mind if we allow Miss Duke to pick first."

The two boys glanced to each other and both shrugged.

"Doesn't bother me," Jason admitted.

Luke simply nodded his head in response, agreeing with the brunette to his right. Kukui took the acceptance and then walked over towards Abby. The professor stood to the girl's left and bent down on one knee, getting to eye level with the three starter Pokemon.

Glancing up at the blonde, he asked, "Which Pokemon are you thinking you'd like for your starter then, Abby?"

The girl didn't skip a beat; she was ready. "Popplio," she replied. "I was leaning towards him in the beginning, but seeing how energetic and happy he is…" she paused for a moment, looking right at her chosen starter. "I couldn't pick anyone else."

The sea lion looked ecstatic upon hearing that and clapped his two front flippers together rapidly in excitement.

"Yippee! Yes! Yay" he cheered with a childlike air of innocence. "I was picked! I was picked! I was picked!"

Seemingly out of nowhere, a blue bubble appeared right in front of Popplio, and the water type wasted no time. He hopped right on and used the sphere as a trampoline, shooting himself right up towards Abby, who giggled at the show.

"I was picked! I was picked! I was picked!" Popplio cheered once again as the blonde girl grabbed him in her arms. "I'm so happy! I'm so happy! I'm so happy!"

The girl cradled the Pokemon in her arms as Professor Kukui chuckled. He grabbed a red and white sphere from his pocket and brought it up towards Abby.

"This Pokeball, then, is yours for Popplio here," he told the girl as she grabbed the sphere from his open palm. "I'm glad to say that you and Popplio appear to be a great pair! I hope you take care of him!"

She nodded her head and, with a grateful smile, replied, "It'll be my pleasure!"

Kukui then stood back up and walked over behind the other two new trainers. He stood directly in between them and brought his two hands up, placing his left on Luke's shoulder and his right on Jason's shoulder.

"Which of you two gents would like to pick next then?" he asked excitedly, clearly enjoying this moment.

Neither of the teens replied aloud, though, both of them instead turning towards each other and shrugging. The two didn't say a word, causing the professor to sigh.

"Neither of you want to make the decision?" he asked rhetorically, playfully groaning a bit. He rolled his eyes and continued, saying, "Then we'll let Jason pick next since you have the homefield advantage here in Alola, Luke. How about that?"

Both boys nodded their head, the duo still remaining silent. The quiet didn't last long, though, because after only a moment, Jason said, "Litten."

The fire type simply nodded his head in response before casually walking forward towards his new trainer. The cat Pokemon sauntered over to the brunette teen who was quickly handed a Pokeball by Professor Kukui. Litten looked up to Jason upon making it over to him and nodded his head.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir," the Pokemon said calmly before lying down on the ground.

Kukui's grin grew widely at the sight of the newly formed partnership to his right.

"Man, do I love my job!" he cheered, rubbing his hands together in front of him. He immediately turned to look at Luke to his left afterwards and said, "It looks like your partner is gonna be Rowlet, bud! How awesome is that!?

The blond revealed a smile upon hearing that and looked at the bird Pokemon standing in front of him. Rowlet didn't show any emotion at the announcement, instead choosing to just walk over towards Luke silently. The boy raised his right eyebrow slightly upon seeing the bird's reaction, but he didn't question it.

Rowlet glanced up at his new trainer for a moment when he arrived at Luke's feet, but still said nothing. The blond didn't have time to say anything to the bird, though, because the professor had already shot forwards from in between the two boys towards a desk pushed against the wall. Kukui opened a drawer of the right side of the desk and began to quickly sift through its contents. The teens couldn't see what the man was moving through, but they heard a crashing sound shortly after he began that resembled glass breaking.

Luke looked towards Abby and raised his right eyebrow slightly, causing the blonde to giggle a bit. Just then, however, Kukui seemed to have found what he was looking for.

"Finally!" the man exclaimed, leaping up with three colorful-looking amulets in his right hand. "I knew I had them in here somewhere! These are Island Challenge Amulets! They prove to anyone and everyone in Alola that you are all true Island Challengers!"

He then handed the colorful charms to each of the teens, first to Abby, then to Luke, and the last one to Jason. Once he did that, the professor nodded to himself, looking quite pleased.

"And that's all I've got for you guys then! You're all ready to start your adventures! Good luck and have fun! I'm off to go study! Enjoy!"

With that, the man rushed down the steps on the right side of his lab, and shortly after, a crash was heard. A bright blue light then appeared along with a cry from some Pokemon. The teens glanced around, each of them just as confused as the next.

"Well...I suppose we should get going," Abby announced.

Both boys nodded their heads, and with Abby leading the way, they left the lab and began walking across the sand to the beach for a bit. They each sat down to talk to their respective Pokemon for a bit, and while conversations could be heard between the duos of Popplio and Abby and of Litten and Jason, Rowlet and Luke were both silent.

It wasn't as though they were ignoring each other, but it didn't seem like either felt like talking. Rowlet and Luke simply sat on the sand next to each other, with the blond watching the Pokemon. The grass starter, however, stood still, though, his eyes trained on the water.

After a few more minutes of that, Luke heard the sound of someone standing up behind him. He turned his head around to see Abby walking towards him, Popplio right by her side.

"It's time for us to battle, Luke," she said in a tone that sounded as if saying 'no' wasn't an option.

"Yeah!" Popplio agreed, clapping his fins together excitedly. "It'll be so much fun, fun, fun!"

Luke turned towards Rowlet, but the bird said nothing. He seemed to be agreeing to the battle, though, because just as silently, the bird stepped forwards, away from the girl and her partner. The blond followed his lead after nodding his head in response to Abby.

"Sounds good to me," he replied.

Abby grinned widely in response, and began to walk back a bit as well, making room for a battlefield. Jason didn't say a word, but moved back as well, wanting to stay out of the middle of the battle. Litten followed right behind him, staying silent as well.

The two blondes then stood quietly for a bit, neither completely sure how to begin their first battle. However, after a moment, Abby took a deep breath then stomped her right foot against the beach, her eyes gleaming with a sort of excitement that her friend had never before seen.

"Let's get this going!" she cheered, pumping her first into the air. She then composed herself, bringing her arm to her side, before looking right into her friend's- now opponent's- eyes. "Well, Luke, I'll start us off! Water Gun, Popplio!"

"Yippee!" the starter cheered with a wide smile.

The seal Pokemon wasted no further time in listening to his new trainer's orders. Popplio shot from his spot, using his two hind flippers as a boost to leap into the air. The water type flung his front flippers backwards as he soared, gaining more speed.

Once he reached the halfway mark between himself and his opponent, Popplio opened his mouth widely, and a sphere of water appeared in front of the opening. The ball then shot forwards, becoming a geyser of water, and rocketed towards Rowlet. The owl stood his ground, though, despite the oncoming duo of Pokemon and attack.

"Block that with Leafage!" Luke countered, pumping his right arm forward, his hand clenched into a fist.

Without so much as a look back, the grass starter hopped upwards and flapped his wings towards his oncoming foe. As he did, a barrage of gleaming green orbs appeared out of nowhere and began to shoot towards Popplio and the Water Gun.

The spheres flew forwards quickly as Rowlet casually floated back down towards the ground, and Luke couldn't help but notice still how aloof his starter was towards him, even in battle. However, the blond was not put off in the least. He was much too excited at the mere thought of finally being in his first Pokemon battle.

' _I'm in it for the long haul,'_ he told himself with the slightest of grins. ' _You won't be able to get rid of me with this attitude, Rowlet!'_

At that very moment, the jet of water collided with the orbs of green energy, causing a loud booming sound to occur as the attacks cancelled each other out. The water seemed to almost soak into the spheres, surprising Luke slightly, but he didn't have time to wonder, though. Abby was already calling out her next attack.

"Rush forwards with Pound, Popplio!"

The small blue Pokemon was eager to comply, rushing forwards during the same exact moment that the command was given. For a seal on land, Popplio could move pretty fast, but Luke knew that the water type wouldn't be able to keep up with the grass type bird.

"Meet 'em head on with Peck, Rowlet!"

The Grass Quill Pokemon listened to his orders and went to attack, though, the bird still didn't seem very enthusiastic. Nonetheless, Rowlet shot forwards towards his oncoming opponent, flying through the air as fast as his two wings would allow. His beak began to glow brightly with a shining white light as he rocketed forwards Popplio.

The two starter Pokemon made it to the center of the battlefield, but mere milliseconds before attacking each other, Abby shouted, "Disarming Voice!"

If Popplio was shocked by the sudden change, he hid it well, because he wasted no time in ducking beneath Rowlet instead of colliding like originally planned. He then immediately pivoted his body around to face his foe's back. The Sea Lion Pokemon opened his mouth and released a beam of pink energy that rocketed straight for Rowlet's unprotected back.

The blast quickly collided with the bird, knocking the grass starter down into the dirt battlefield. Clouds of the dust rose into the air upon Rowlet's collision with the ground, and the owl looked to be in pain. The Grass Quill Pokemon's face was planted into the ground, so his trainer couldn't even make out his face. Spectators could tell the starter wasn't knocked out from the blow, though, because Rowlet was still shaking every few moments. Luke watched his new partner lying on the ground, and a combination of several different emotions began to course through the blond.

In one short second, Luke felt the rush of energy that came with being a trainer battling alongside his Pokemon partner, the excitement at the thought of winning, and the worry that came with seeing Rowlet in pain. The feeling was nearly overwhelming to the new trainer, but he pushed his feelings to the side. He needed reason over emotion.

"Get back up and hit hard with Tackle!" Luke ordered, his voice not revealing any of the emotions he was feeling the moment before.

The grass starter heard the command and responded as fast as he could. In the very next moment, Rowlet jumped up to his feet, casting his wings downwards, using the boost to bring him back into the air. From there, the speedy owl spun around midair, aiming his entire body directly at Popplio, who hadn't moved since landing his Disarming Voice on his opponent.

Rowlet then shot downwards, flying towards the Sea Lion Pokemon with his body acting like a rocket. Popplio was so surprised by his foe's sudden and speedy return to the battle that he could do nothing but watch the oncoming missile that was Rowlet come towards him. The owl slammed into the seal head on, pushing Popplio backwards across the dirt battlefield.

Abby grinned at the sight, happy to see that her first battle didn't end so quickly. She focused right in on her starter, who turned his head around to look at her as soon as he regained his balance from the attack. Her grin grew even wider upon seeing him, because the Pokemon seemed to look just as excited as she was, his eyes appearing to nearly glimmer in the sunlight.

"Disarming Voice one more time, Popplio!"

"With pleasure!" the water type cheered as he spun around on his tail once, bringing his right flipper up into the air as though it was a fist.

Popplio opened his mouth again- this time humming slightly- before releasing yet another beam of pink energy. This attack, though, was different from the first in the fact that the beam seemed to be much more powerful with a wider diameter. Rowlet, who wasn't very far from his foe, did something he hadn't done for the whole battle.

He turned his head around to acknowledge Luke.

The blond wanted to do nothing more than cheer with how ecstatic he felt in that very morning. Despite how horrible he felt the night before and how worried he was that very morning, Luke was happier in this moment than he was in any recent memory. His starter Pokemon and partner seemed to finally be accepting of Luke, even if only slightly.

That was more than enough for the new trainer, though.

"Dodge that and finish them off with Leafage, Rowlet!" Luke shouted, pumping his fist forwards towards his partner even as the Disarming Voice got closer and closer to colliding with the Grass Quill Pokemon.

Acting quickly, the grass type owl sprung into action. He shot into the air, flying faster than he had any other time in the battle, just in time to swoop over the beam of pink energy that was rocketing towards him. Rowlet spiraled around the attack, making sure to avoid the beam. Popplio's eyes grew large as the Grass Quill Pokemon got closer, but didn't let up. He continued on with the attack, hoping to finish Rowlet off with Disarming Voice before getting hit himself.

However, the owl was much too nimble and speedy while flying for the Sea Lion to come even close to landing a hit this time. Rowlet continued his flight forwards while dodging the Disarming Voice until he found himself only a few feet away from Popplio. In that moment, he shot upwards, completely ignoring the pink beam. Out of his attack's range now, Popplio gave up on the attack, instead deciding to try sliding away from the area, hoping to dodge the oncoming attack from his foe.

Rowlet was much too fast for that plan to work, though. Being right above Popplio at this point, the owl brought his wings above his chest and aimed himself downwards. At that very moment, five balls of green energy formed around him, and Rowlet once again went to divebomb his opponent. This time, though, he was much faster than before having come from a higher point.

As he shot downwards at Popplio, though, the green spheres did something differently than last time. While Rowlet was descending towards the battlefield below, the orbs each released a beam of green energy. That meant that five blasts were now heading right for Popplio, and the seal had no way to dodge.

Rowlet, a mere ten feet from the ground, snapped his two wings out, spreading them out parallel to the ground. The sudden increase of surface area on the bird slowed him down drastically, making him transform from a missile into more of a kite. The sudden change in speed didn't affect the Leafage attack, though. All five beams continued on towards their target, and Popplio could do nothing but watch as it happened.

The pillars of light blasted into the water type Pokemon, sending him flying into the air upon impact. The super effective attack hit Popplio directly, and the Sea Lion could do nothing to change that. He smacked against the ground with enough force that anyone within the area could hear the thud. The water starter was instantly knocked unconscious, and Abby quickly recalled him to his Pokeball.

"Return, Popplio!" she called worriedly.

The blonde looked down upon the Pokeball in her hand and gave her new partner a sad smile, whether he could see it or not.

"You did great out there, buddy," she said. "Especially considering the fact that this was our first battle together. Good job."

With that, Abby placed the capsule in her right pocket then began to walk over towards Luke. The blond, meanwhile, had run up to his starter with a wide grin upon his face and his eyes lit up like he was a child on christmas morning taking their first look at a stack of presents.

"We did it! We won our first battle!" he cheered. The bird, who had previously been soaring about ten feet above the battlefield still, came down to the ground next to the blond and looked up. "You were great out there," Luke continued. "I couldn't ask anything more of you."

The bird nodded his head in response.

"Thank you."

Rowlet's voice sounded much more mature than Popplio, and quite similar to Litten. Both he and the cat Pokemon had calm voices that sounded somewhat deep, yet still at a higher pitch than Luke. However, the sound of the Pokemon's voice didn't matter much to the blond at that moment.

Rowlet had spoken for the first time since Luke met him.

The new trainer was speechless for a moment, only capable of nodding his head in response, the smile on his face wider than ever. At that moment, Abby had arrived at the spot where Luke was standing and had heard the bird's first words as well. She knew what this meant to her best friend and was happy for him.

"That was an amazing battle, Luke, Rowlet," she complimented. "You were definitely the better duo out there this time, but you both had better wait for the next time!"

"I can't wait!" Luke said, eager for the next battle.

Rowlet, though, simply bowed his head slightly at the compliment, choosing not to respond. If Abby was offended by the silence, she hid it well, Luke thought, because she didn't say a word about it and didn't react to the silence at all, other than to smile at the creature.

Luke opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, a voice came from behind him.

"Not bad."

The blond looked behind him to see the brown-haired boy- Jason- walking towards them, his face neutral. Litten was nowhere to be seen, making Luke assume the cat Pokemon had been recalled sometime in the middle of the battle.

"For this being both of your first battles, that wasn't half bad," he reiterated. "I've seen a lot of battle first hand in my life, and I think the two of you will certainly turn out to be good rivals for me."

Abby and Luke looked at each other for a moment, not sure what to make of the what-seemed-to-be compliment. After another second, though, the blonde girl walked up towards Jason and held out her right arm, extending her hand towards the brunette boy.

"Well I'm glad to hear you think that, because I don't intend on slacking anytime soon," she said with a smile. "You'll be good practice for me while I work towards becoming the Alola Champion!"

Jason smiled a bit and extended his own hand in reply.

"I was just about to say the same," he responded, taking Abby's hand and shaking it firmly.

He then turned towards Luke who had come forward as well, and both boys then extended their arms towards each other as well, shaking hands.

"You're going to be a good rival, too, Luke," Jason stated. "I can see it now."

The blond nodded his head in thanks and responded, "The same to you, Jason. I can't wait for our first battle."

The Sinnoh native nodded his head, agreeing with the statement then turned towards the north.

"Well I'd better get going," he announced. "I'm hoping to make it to Hau'oli City by tomorrow afternoon. Good luck to you both on your journeys."

Both blondes reciprocated the farewell, and Jason took off on his own. Within ten seconds the teen was out of sight, but before either of them could say or do anything, Newton, the aide that had brought them to Professor Kukui's lab, approached the duo, a pair of car keys in his right hand.

"Are you two ready to go? The professor has told me he wants you both home soon, so you get a good amount of sleep before your adventures tomorrow."

Without a second thought, Abby and Luke nodded their heads in response, and the group headed towards the side of the lab where the same red jeep that they had arrived in that morning. Luke, Abby, and Newton all climbed in as Rowlet casually floated in from his place next to his trainer in the air.

Without so much as another word, the aide turned the keys, and the vehicle came to life. The group was then headed back towards Iki Town where Luke and Abby would have their final night at home before their journeys. After the long day that they had, Abby decided to take a small nap, leaving Luke to talk to his new partner while Newton focused on the road.

Not much was said at first since neither of the new duo was a great linguist. However, after almost twenty minutes of the only sound being the jeeps tires driving across the dirt road, Luke spoke up for the first time.

"We're going to become strong together, Rowlet."

The Grass Quill Pokemon looked up towards his trainer at the sudden statement, blinked slowly, then nodded his head in agreement, not saying a word at all. The blond was not put off by that fact, though.

"But that won't happen overnight."

Again, Rowlet simply nodded his head in reply, and again, Luke continued on anyways.

"We can't be complete strangers to each other if that goal is going to happen, Rowlet."

This time, the bird was slightly confused. He rose his right eyebrow slightly and tilted his head, all without saying a word still. Luke sighed for a moment, but continued on before he lost his nerve.

"We have to be able to talk to each other if we're going to become partners, and we can't become strong if we're not working together as partners. Do you understand, Rowlet?"

The starter Pokemon didn't move even a muscle after that. For nearly ten seconds- ten long, drawn-out seconds for Luke- the creature said nothing and didn't move. Just before the blonde gave up, though, a moment before Luke grabbed Rowlet's Pokeball, the Pokemon spoke up.

"I'd appreciate being called something other than Rowlet. That's my species, but I don't wish for that to be my name."

Luke was shocked to say the least by the outburst, but smiled nonetheless.

' _Progress is progress,'_ he mused. ' _And I'd say that this is a good start.'_

"That's easy enough, I suppose," the blond said.

He paused for a moment, giving his starter Pokemon a once-over, thinking of some sort of nickname that he could use for Rowlet. Luke was drawing a blank for names, but just before he announced he had nothing, the blond took another look at the leaf-like bow upon the creature's chest.

A bow.

Luke then looked up at the bird again and noticed how his partner's feather changed into a new color right at the bow.

' _It's almost like...he's wearing a sweatshirt or something,'_ he realized.

In that moment, he knew he had the perfect name.

"How does Hood sound to you?"

The Grass Quill Pokemon smiled at the name- a small smile, but a smile nonetheless- and the mere sight of it told Luke that it was a good choice.

"I like it," the bird said simply. "Hood."

"Hood it is from now on then," Luke promised.

With that, the duo slowly drifted to sleep, resting before they made it back to Iki Town where Luke was sure to be questioned over his new partner.

' _Hood…'_ he mused. ' _I like it, too.'_

That was his last thought as he drifted to a peaceful sleep, the sun beginning to set around them as afternoon shifted to evening. Everything was calm and quiet on Melemele Island, but that was sure to change soon enough.

* * *

 **First off, I really want to say thank you to everyone that reviewed last chapter. Ten people! That's amazing! It's the highest amount of reviews I've ever had on a single chapter! Thanks to everyone that gave me some feedback, whether I agree with it or not! I really appreciate it!**

 **I'm sorry about how long this took to upload, but it's due to senior year kicking my ass and other, more personal things. Gotta love high school, amirite? :/ xD**

 **Luke's Team:**

 **-Hood (Rowlet):** _Tackle, Leafage, Growl, Peck_

 **Abby's Team:**

 **-Popplio:** _Pound, Water Gun, Growl, Disarming Voice_

1\. Thoughts on Abby and Jason?

 **2.** Team predictions for the two above?

 **3.** How was the battle? I'm back to Tackle vs. Tackle, as I like to call them xD Thankfully I at least had much, much, much more of a move pool than I gave myself in TQG lol

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** _The First Steps_

 _With his adventure beginning in earnest, Luke heads towards Hau'oli City, the first step on the journey. He meets with Abby again, and the duo decides to travel together for awhile. While they're walking, though, they hear a Pokemon nearby and they can't help but go see what is is! What can come from this encounter?_

* * *

 **Melemele Arc**

 **Chapter 4:** _The Expert Soldier_

Chapter 5: _Duped by the Dex!_

 **Chapter 6:** _Battling for Brunch?_

 **Chapter 7:** _Standoff in the Sand!_

 **Chapter 8:** _First Taste of a Trial_

 **Chapter 9:** _Dimming the Star_

 **Chapter 10:** _Feeling the Heat!_


	3. The First Steps

**Theme Song**

 _ **When you look around, and all seems small**_ _(Luke looks around his bedroom and sighs)_

 _ **You want to climb, but always fall**_ _(Luke slides backwards across the ground in pain, Hood in his arms)_

 _ **Glancing up, your goals look far**_ _(Luke stands beneath a mountain with three figures standing above him, blocking a trophy)_

 _ **Get through the past, you'll be a star!**_ _(Luke, Hood, and two other Pokemon stand together on a pedestal)_

 _ **Stand up! (2) We'll win the fight!**_ _(Hood shoots a Razor Leaf, another Pokemon uses Bite, and the last Pokemon uses Iron Tail)_

 _ **Look up!**_ _(Luke holds a gray crystal into the air with his right arm, grinning widely)_

 _ **Your future's bright!**_ _(Luke shakes hands with a brown-haired adult)_

 _ **Fight hard! (2x)**_ _(Hood and a bipedal, fire type Pokemon stand across from each other in battle stances)_

 _ **Your dream's in sight**_ _(A silhouette stands across from Luke in a huge stadium)_

 _ **And if the fight gets too rough**_ _(A four-legged Pokemon falls to the ground in pain)_

 _ **Your friends are there to help you up**_ _(A blonde girl and a brown-haired boy hold out their hands to Luke)_

 _ **Never hold your dreams inside**_ _(Luke sits on the ground as the sun sets in the west and the moon appears in the east)_

 _ **Let them out, and you will thrive!**_ _(Luke travels along a dirt path with Hood flying beside him)_

 _ **Pokémon!**_

* * *

 **Well, everyone, after having to wait for three months for an update, you only have to wait less than a week. Because screw consistency xD Anyways, last chapter was pretty big. We met Luke's best friend, Abby, and his new rival, Jason. They all then received their starters from Kukui.**

 **Naturally, I had to throw in a battle, so Luke and Abby fought with their starters, Hood the Rowlet and Popplio respectively. Despite their lack of communication, Luke and Hood won. All three trainers then left, with Luke and Abby going back to Iki Town with Kukui's aide.**

 **For this chapter, I recommend listening to Yume Sekai from Sword Art Online. It fits the mood pretty well for most parts I think. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Tomoe Mami:** I've already responded to you via PM, so I guess all I have to say to you is thanks for the review!

 **ShadowDragon9000:** I'm glad you appreciated the interaction between Luke and Abby! She is definitely one of those friends that know you more than you'd like to admit at times xD As to the worry Luke has, it'll certainly be with him for a long time, and as long as I work it as planned, it should turn into some good character growth (I hope!). Hood is honestly my favorite character (Except maybe tied with Jason) right now, so I'm glad you and everyone else seems to be enjoying him, too. Thanks for the review!

 **El Torro:** So this is the monster you made me fear xD There is a lot of stuff to comment on in here, but I'm just gonna hit on a few. The Abby/Popplio relationship is probably one of my favorite- if not favorite trainer/Pokemon- relationships that I've ever written. And this is only Chapter 3. This should be good. As to Hood, he and Luke are extremely alike, but the self-realization comes sooner than you seem to have expected xD I'm glad you noticed the mini conflict (For lack of a better word) between Kukui and Jason. That bit will be very important later on. Thanks for the review!

 **Blaze Falcon:** I'm glad that you're liking the new trio! These are some of my favorite characters ever from anything I've written, including ideas that never made it to FF. Your team predictions were interesting, and I'm glad to see I thoroughly stumped you on the last one. That's my favorite 'mon on the team ;) Thanks for the review!

* * *

 **Luke's Team:**

 **-Hood (Rowlet):** _Tackle, Leafage, Growl, Peck_

* * *

"What a cutie!"

Luke and Hood had made it back to the Jackson home in Iki Town, and the blond's family was eagerly looking over the youngest Jackson's new Pokemon partner. Nicole especially was excited at the sight of Hood, going as far as to grab him up off of the floor and admire him. That was where her outburst came from.

"He's just so cute!" the younger Jackson sister repeated. Looking over to her brother, Nicole added, "What a nice pick here, Luke! He seems pretty strong, too."

The blond nodded his head, but kept his attention on his starter Pokemon. Luke knew for a fact that Hood couldn't have been enjoying this attention he was receiving at all, but put up with it anyways. While the bird didn't say anything to the Jacksons, he at least didn't attack them. Luke was grateful for that fact.

' _I'll have to really thank him later,'_ he thought.

Before he could muse any further, though, Nicole finally set Hood back down on the ground. Luke's oldest sister, Alexa, bent down on her knees at that exact moment, however, coming closer to Hood's height. Luke made a silent wish that she didn't pick him up as well, and thankfully it came true.

"Hey there, buddy," she greeted, smiling at the Rowlet. Luke let out a small sigh of relief when Alexa didn't grab his starter, but that calm didn't last for long. "You seem like more of a quiet guy, don't ya?" she continued, asking the Pokemon a rhetorical question. "Just like my little bro here."

Hood tilted his head slightly at the comparison. Apparently he hadn't realized that similarity yet. He wasn't alone there, though. Luke, too, was surprised when he heard Alexa mention how alike he and Hood were. His eyes widened immediately, and the blond looked down at his starter just in time to see the creature looking back, a confused look on his face. Luke supposed that the comparison probably had seemed obvious to Abby earlier as well, yet she hadn't said anything about it. Alexa opened her mouth to say something else, but before she could, a deep, masculine voice came from behind she and Nicole, interrupting her.

"Tomorrow's the day, Luke," Marcus, the father of the Jackson family said, changing the subject.

The blond nodded his head automatically without thinking. He wasn't really paying attention to the conversation anymore. His mind was caught on the similarity between himself and Hood.

' _I never even noticed…'_ he mused. ' _I've been around him the majority of the day, but never once realized the fact that he and I are almost exactly alike…I guess I've figured out why he doesn't much enjoy talking to strangers.'_

Luke could have been stuck in his own head thinking about that topic for a while still, but was interrupted by Alexa snapping her fingers in front of his face.

"Helloooo? Anyone home?" she asked jokingly, a small grin on her face. "Are you here in Alola or some other world?"

Nicole chuckled a bit at the joke while Marcus rolled his eyes, a small grin appearing on his face as well. Luke flushed at the attention. He had nearly forgotten that they had been talking to him when he zoned out. The blond looked down towards the ground for a moment to regain his composure before responding.

"Sorry," he replied upon looking up again. "I was just thinking about tomorrow," he lied, placing his right hand atop his head, running his fingers through his blond hair.

Each of his family members' faces grew more serious when they heard that, relating to the teen's thoughts. They could all remember the night before they had left on their adventures, and each and every one of them knew how stressful yet invigorating the feeling was.

"That's no problem," Marcus replied after a few seconds. "I'm sure you've had quite a long day."

Luke nodded his head in reply- yet another automatic response- and turned his head towards an analog clock that was hanging on the wall of the family's living room. The time was 7:30 PM. Luke was pretty surprised how fast time had gone that day. He had gotten home from the lab a little bit before 7:00, and that felt like it was only minutes ago.

Apparently not.

"How about we just get a quick dinner in then you head up to your room and get some sleep before the big day?" Marcus asked after noticing the look in his son's eyes.

Luke looked towards his father and smiled slightly, thankful for the chance to get out of the spotlight his family put him under upon coming home. Alexa and Nicole nodded their heads, but looked slightly disappointed.

' _They probably wanted to adore Hood for a little longer, I suppose,'_ the blond assumed.

Just then, Luke had a sudden realization.

' _Hood!'_

Luke head nearly forgotten that his partner was also in the room, and he was probably feeling just as anxious to leave his trainer's family as Luke was. He glanced downwards to look at how Hood was feeling just in time to see the Rowlet looking up towards him, an inquisitive look apparent in the Pokemon's eyes.

Luke was surprised to see Hood looking at him, let alone staring. The creature had hardly looked at him all day and barely spoke. The blond thought Hood must have really been deep in thought to be staring at his trainer.

' _I wonder what he's thinking about…'_

Luke, once again zoned out from his surroundings, was jolted awake when Alexa poked him in the side with her right index finger.

"Maybe you just want to go to bed right away, Luke," the oldest Jackson child suggested, a look of actual concern in her eyes. "You seem to be really out of it tonight; even more than normal."

Nicole nodded her head after hearing that and continued the thought, saying, "Sleep would probably be the best thing for you right now, buddy. I'll make a really nice, huge breakfast for you tomorrow before you leave to make up for tonight. How about that?"

Luke looked between his two sisters with a look of surprise. With all of the worrying he always did regarding his family, Luke never seemed to remember how much that they seemed to care about him.

"That sounds good to me," he agreed after a moment. "I'm gonna head to bed. Goodnight, guys."

With that, each of his family member bid Luke and Hood both goodnight before the new duo headed up the steps that were on the far side of the living room. Hood followed right behind his trainer, still not sure of where anything was in the house.

Within minutes of getting to his room, Luke was ready for bed. He slipped under his covers as Hood floated down to the mattress and laid down on the opposite side of the bed as the blond. The lights went out, and the two then tried to get some sleep.

* * *

 _6:57 AM_

Luke woke up just before his alarm went off, and so desperately longed for the stolen three minutes of precious sleep. However, he knew that if we went back to sleep, he wouldn't be willing to get out of bed when his alarm clock went off at 7:00. Begrudgingly, the blond slowly began to sit up on his bed, slowly sliding upwards as he back glided across the mattress. The Charmander alarm clock on his table seemed to stare right at Luke as he struggled to get up, almost as though it was mocking him.

"Man, do I wish I could've slept even another ten minutes," he groaned quietly, his voice still not completely functional yet. Luke wasn't expecting to hear a response, but apparently one was needed.

"I do not understand why you are complaining about this. I was awake nearly two hours ago."

The sudden voice in his room, nearly made Luke leap into the air, shocked by the unexpected comment. The blond scanned his surroundings like a hawk, not sure where the voice came from. There wasn't another person around that he could see. The only things on the floor were scattered books and his blue and black backpack.

"We will not be getting anywhere near the amount of sleep you just had while traveling."

It was the same voice as the first time. However, this time Luke was much more alert after having freaked out from the first. This time, he could hear where the voice was coming from, and surprisingly enough, it was from above him.

Perched on the top of Luke's bed frame was none other than Hood. The owl's claws had grabbed the top of the frame, and he was sitting there staring out the window that was on the left side of the room. The sun had just begun to rise recently it looked like, because the star appeared to be just beneath the palm trees outside. Hood seemed to be staring intently outside. What at, though, Luke had no clue.

"Good morning," he greeted awkwardly. Luke wasn't really used to someone chilling out next to him as slept, even if it was his new partner.

' _Something I'll have to get used to soon, I suppose,'_ he thought.

Just then, the Rowlet looked down again. His eyes met Luke's, but he never spoke up. Instead, Hood just nodded his head towards his trainer in a way of greeting. Luke had to fight the urge to sigh.

' _I have to wonder if he even heard me yesterday when I said we'd have to be able to talk to each other…It certainly doesn't seem like it so far.'_

Nevertheless, Luke gave his starter a small smile, hoping that Hood would return the favor if he took the first step. Just as the blond smiled, though, the Pokemon shifted his focus back to the window, seemingly missing the gesture. Luke couldn't help it that time. He sighed out of half annoyance and half longing.

' _I think it would've been easier if he openly hated me,'_ Luke thought bitterly. ' _At least then I wouldn't be guessing.'_

He got out of bed a moment later and walked over towards the bathroom on the other side of his bedroom. He went in and proceeded to get ready for the day, showering, putting on clothes, brushing his teeth, and combing his hair. Like always, Luke wore his usual outfit of a striped shirt, cargo shorts, and his porkpie. His black tennis shoes were sitting by the door downstairs, waiting for him to leave.

With that finished, Luke walked back out of his bathroom and into his bedroom. Hood was still sitting on his bed frame looking outside when he came back in, but turned towards his trainer when Luke walked in.

"Ready for breakfast?" the blond asked, his tone steady.

Hood didn't say anything in response, but he did nod his head. He then flapped his wings once and began to float downwards towards the floor. Within seconds, Hood was standing on the ground next to his trainer, looking upwards expectantly but still silent. Luke grew to expect as much, so he began to walk out of the room towards the kitchen. It felt like it was going to be a long day.

* * *

Luke and Hood were standing outside of the Jackson house after they were treated to quite the large breakfast as promised by Nicole. She certainly wasn't stingy. Luke could still catch a bit of the scent of bacon, maple syrup, and eggs from outside the kitchen window. He and Hood were ready to leave. They just had to wait on Luke's family to be ready.

Nicole and Alexa were smiling as they waved off their little brother, but it wasn't quite as easy for Marcus. The proud man had a small tear in his right eye as he looked at his son standing before him, ready to leave on his own Pokemon journey through the Alola region.

"If only your mom could see you right now," he told his son, the lone tear finally rolling down your cheek. "She would have been so proud of you, too."

The statement brought sad smiles to each of his children's faces as well, all of them recalling their mother. However, Nicole and Alexa didn't stay on the subject for long. They each glanced towards the other for a moment before nodding their heads in unison. Then, continuing as one, they walked over towards their father, one girl on either side. They each placed one of their hands on one of Marcus' shoulders, all the while Luke watched his sisters with a small smile forming.

"You, dad," Alexa began, getting her father to look over towards her instead of her brother. "need to stop making this too depressing. It's his first formal day as a trainer leaving on his journey."

Nicole then stepped in, continuing on for her sister. "Which is why you need to say goodbye, and then the three of us will go back inside before we make this any more embarrassing for Luke over there."

The blond blushed when his name was brought up, but didn't argue. He loved his dad, but he didn't overly want him being emotional outside right before Luke left. It didn't feel like a good note to leave on.

"I suppose you're both right," Marcus agreed, sighing as his daughters grinned madly. He then looked back over to his son, smiled, and continued, "I'm sorry about that, Luke, but just stay safe out there. I know things are safer since the attack all those years ago, but I still worry."

Luke locked eyes with his father at this point, but neither of them could say anymore. Marcus was too worried about saying anymore without tearing up again, and Luke simply couldn't think of what to say. He was out of his comfort zone here. Thankfully, Alexa was there to save him, though.

"Everything is much safer than it used to be, dad," she told him, her eyes rolling towards the heavens. "It was a freak accident thirteen years ago. That's it. The Champions took care of it, and are much stronger now than they were then. Nothing will go wrong."

"And if something does happen, Hood will be there to keep Luke safe, dad," Nicole added, smiling at the little owl. "He seems like a tough little guy."

Hood blinked his eyes once, appearing to be confused at the recognition, but nodded his head anyways.

"I'll do my best," he promised, surprising Luke.

He looked down at the Pokemon, but Hood kept his gaze steady towards Nicole, and the girl smiled in response.  
"Thank you," she told the bird. "It means a lot to hear that."

With that, the group finished their goodbyes, and Luke and Hood were on their way. The teen smiled back at his family as he walked on, Hood flying by him at head height. They were off, their adventure finally started. They just had to meet up with Abby now.

' _She said she'd be around Route 1,'_ Luke recalled, thinking back to their conversation last night when they arrived back in Iki Town. ' _She wanted to get to training ASAP.'_

With a clear goal in mind, the duo set off, heading south towards Route 1.

* * *

The sun shone above them as Luke and Hood marched on towards their destination, Luke on foot and Hood in the air. It was about 11:00 AM now, and they had been moving for about an hour and a half. They'd been in Route 1 for the past hour, causing the blond to be slightly confused as to where his best friend was.

"I could have sworn she planned on being at least near the entrance," he muttered, looking around for some sort of sign. "Where in the world are you, Abby?" he asked of the sky.

While the sky didn't respond, he did hear a sound not far off from where he was. It sounded like a girl's voice, so Luke perked up pretty quickly.

"Let's go, Hood," he said. "I think I heard Abby up there!"

Without another word from either trainer or Pokemon, the duo sped up, Luke now running while Hood picked up the pace which he was flying. After thirty seconds of the heightened pace, the figure of a girl could be spotted ahead of them with two other, smaller figures around her. One was Popplio, but the other was too far for Luke to make out. The sight of a girl and a Popplio inspired him to go faster, though, now sure it was Abby.

"Water Gun one last time!"

Luke heard the command from where he was just before a geyser of water shot towards the other figure by Abby. The creature was hit dead-on by the attack, and shot backwards, further away from Luke. Abby then grabbed something from her pants pocket, but due to the distance, Luke could only guess what it was.

Before the girl could do anything, though, Luke got close enough to yell, "Abby! I've been looking all over for you!"

She had just looked ready to toss whatever she was holding when he spoke, and the sudden outburst clearly was unexpected. Abby dropped the object to the ground. She pivoted backwards in a response, her face giving off a very annoyed expression.

"Damnit, Luke!" she replied, scowling at her best friend as he closed in on her and Popplio, Hood right behind him in the air. "Give me a second!"

Abby took a deep breath before grabbing the object off of the ground. Being right behind her now, Luke could easily see what it was. A Pokeball. Abby was about to capture her first Pokemon.

' _She's so far ahead of me already!'_ he thought, happy for his friend, yet also disappointed in himself at the the idea of being behind.

Before he could think about the subject any further, Abby threw the Pokeball towards the creature lying on the ground in front of them. Now within seeing distance, Luke could see exactly what the Pokemon was. It was a common woodpecker-like creature seen everywhere on Alola. The capsule hit the bird with a thud, and the the Pokemon was absorbed with a bright red light.

 **Shake…**

 **Shake…**

 **Shake…**

"C'mon, Pikipek!" Popplio cheered from his trainer's side. "Get caught! Get caught! Get caught! We'll be able to train together, play together, eat together, battle together...it'll be great!"

As if the creature could hear Popplio, the Pokemon was caught right afterwards.

 **Ding!**

The center button on the capsule lit up brightly, signalling that Pikipek had been caught.

"Yes!" Abby whooped. "We caught another teammate, Popplio!"

"Yay!" the Sea Lion Pokemon cheered again in response. "We did it! We did it! We did it!"

The duo ran up to the Pokeball, and Abby scooped it up. The two treated it like it was a beautiful trophy, and Luke couldn't help but chuckle. It was good for him to see his best friend enjoying herself, even if she was progressing much faster than him…

' _Stop being so negative,'_ he thought, scowling slightly in spite of himself. ' _Be happy for her, damnit.'_

With that thought, Luke went to go congratulate Abby, Hood right behind him. This was the first day for their journey. He should start it off right. With his best friend.

* * *

 **Well there we are, ladies and gents. Another update within a week xD I hope you don't all start expecting this now, because I'm not sure that I'll be able to provide these all so quickly lol. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please leave a review! Thanks for reading!**

 **Abby's Team:**

 **-Popplio:** _Pound, Water Gun, Growl, Disarming Voice_

 **-Pikipek:** _Peck, Echoed Voice, Growl_

1\. What did Luke's family mean when they said something happened thirteen years ago?

2\. Who do Luke and Abby meet next chapter?

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** _The Expert Soldier_

Resuming their traveling to Hau'oli City, Luke and Abby see a house standing just on the outskirts of the city. When they hear the sound of Pokemon battling, they decide to check it out for themselves. However, what they find isn't just a Pokemon battle; it's someone much more powerful than either one of them. They both know exactly who this person is, too! Who is this trainer!?

* * *

 **Melemele Arc**

 **Chapter 5:** _Duped by the Dex!_

 **Chapter 6:** _Battling for Brunch?_

 **Chapter 7:** _Standoff in the Sand!_

 **Chapter 8:** _First Taste of a Trial_

 **Chapter 9:** _Dimming the Star_

 **Chapter 10:** _Feeling the Heat!_


	4. The Expert Soldier

**Theme Song**

 _ **When you look around, and all seems small**_ _(Luke looks around his bedroom and sighs)_

 _ **You want to climb, but always fall**_ _(Luke slides backwards across the ground in pain, Hood in his arms)_

 _ **Glancing up, your goals look far**_ _(Luke stands beneath a mountain with three figures standing above him, blocking a trophy)_

 _ **Get through the past, you'll be a star!**_ _(Luke, Hood, and two other Pokemon stand together on a pedestal)_

 _ **Stand up! (2) We'll win the fight!**_ _(Hood shoots a Razor Leaf, another Pokemon uses Bite, and the last Pokemon uses Iron Tail)_

 _ **Look up!**_ _(Luke holds a gray crystal into the air with his right arm, grinning widely)_

 _ **Your future's bright!**_ _(Luke shakes hands with a brown-haired adult)_

 _ **Fight hard! (2x)**_ _(Hood and a bipedal, fire type Pokemon stand across from each other in battle stances)_

 _ **Your dream's in sight**_ _(A silhouette stands across from Luke in a huge stadium)_

 _ **And if the fight gets too rough**_ _(A four-legged Pokemon falls to the ground in pain)_

 _ **Your friends are there to help you up**_ _(A blonde girl and a brown-haired boy hold out their hands to Luke)_

 _ **Never hold your dreams inside**_ _(Luke sits on the ground as the sun sets in the west and the moon appears in the east)_

 _ **Let them out, and you will thrive!**_ _(Luke travels along a dirt path with Hood flying beside him)_

 _ **Pokémon!**_

* * *

 **Last chapter wasn't very action-packed, but it did have some important parts in there. Luke got home from the lab and showed Hood, his Rowlet, to his family, who instantly loved the Pokemon. The new duo went to bed shortly after, and when they woke up, left again quickly, beginning their journey in earnest.**

 **Whenever Luke and Abby meet the trainer, I recommend listening to The World from Death Note. The beginning, at least, fits the scene pretty well. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **El Torro:** To start, I really love these long reviews! They definitely let me know where I need to improve and where I'm doing well. I appreciate seeing this monster more than you can imagine! So thanks! Anyways, onto the actual response! I'm glad you're enjoying the parallels between Hood and Luke. It's touched on here, but you'll see what comes of it ;) I'm also glad to see you love Popplio's dialogue xD There's some more of it for you to enjoy here, so I hope you like it! Thanks for the review!

 **BouncingFish:** I'm going to ignore the bit about consistency in your review, because I utterly killed it T_T However, I hope to be better with it this time, at least by a little bit. I'm glad that everyone seems to enjoy the Luke/Hood relationship. It hopefully will only get better. Popplio also seems to be a hit, so I hope you enjoy him this chapter, too lol. Thanks for the review!

 **Blaze Falcon:** I hope to keep you and everyone else guessing on the incident thirteen years ago ;) It definitely makes for some fun and for some nice enjoyment while writing. I hate to repeat it again, but I'm you enjoy Luke/Hood! More to come! Thanks for the review!

 **Delta Edge:** No worries about reviewing! Just review when you can! I'm grateful for them whenever you can. Nice guesses for both, but who knows if they're right? Thanks for the review!

* * *

 **Luke's Team:**

 **-Hood (Rowlet):** _Tackle, Leafage, Growl, Peck_

* * *

"I think I see the lights ahead, Luke!"

Abby was standing in the middle of the dirt road she and Luke were taking to their first target: Hau'oli City. The blonde girl had her hair back in a ponytail that blew around slightly from the wind as Popplio stood on his hind flippers, grinning wildly along with his trainer. Just ahead of them, above some palm trees, was a collection of bright lights.

"The lights! The lights! The lights!" Popplio echoed gleefully. "We're almost there, Luke! So close! So close! So close!"

The Sea Lion Pokemon's energy seemed to be at an all-time high, and for this ginormous ball of pep and spirit named Popplio, that was really saying something. The water starter was clapping his front fins together at high speeds, coming in at almost two hundred beats per minute. Abby watched her partner's enthusiasm with a gleam in her eyes, clearly enjoying every minute of her journey so far.

Luke and Hood, meanwhile, were about ten feet behind the duo, both of them sauntering along. The energy that Abby and Popplio had apparently was not very infectious, because the blond boy and his Pokemon had straight faces, both of them seeming to be deep in thought.

"Luke!" Abby called once again. "Are you there? Hello? Earth to Luke!"

The blond, arriving at about five feet behind his now-still companion, finally was drawn out of his thoughts as he came face to face with Abby. The girl leapt towards him with her face modeling moderate contempt.

"Are you even hearing me right now?" she asked, rolling her eyes to the heavens.

At that exact moment, Luke was snapped out of his own imagination and thrusted back into reality. He blinked once and opened his eyes widely, as though just waking up for the first time in the morning. However, unlike how he was greeted to a calm atmosphere that morning, the blond found himself feeling quite awkward, face to face with his best friend staring at him, annoyed.

Luke was not unused to seeing Abby with this look on her face, so he already knew exactly what it meant. He brought his right arm up to his head and scratched at the back of it with his fingers. Sighing, he asked, "I zoned out while you were talking again, didn't I?"

Abby rolled her eyes glared at him for two seconds, then rolled her eyes once more. After that, she couldn't help but smile.

"You're never going to change, Luke," she said finally with a chuckle. "And I hope that stays true. You're always thinking about something or other."

Luke tilted his head to the right in a thoughtful position before nodding in agreement, a small smile now coming to his face as well. "You're probably right; I'll be like this forever, Ab," he said, using his nickname for her.

The two best friends shared a short laugh together before growing serious again. Abby quickly turned around and once again used her right arm to point to the lights above the treeline ahead of them.

"I'm pretty sure that's Hau'oli City up there," she began, bringing her right arm back down to her side. "I can't be positive, though. It doesn't look like enough light to be a city, but there isn't supposed to be any other settlement between us and Hau'oli City."

Luke nodded his head in agreement; The only towns on Melemele Island were Hau'oli City and Iki Town. Unless they somehow got turned around- which Luke sorely doubted- it couldn't be Iki Town. That left only Hau'oli City ahead of them. However, his gut didn't seem to think that was true.

"It has to be Hau'oli," he said anyways, furrowing his brow.

Abby nodded her head at the response, yet she remained just as skeptical as her friend. Popplio, however, didn't seem worried in the slightest; he remained his usual happy, energetic self, clapping his front fins together as he stood on tail fins and grinning.

"Yay! Yay! Yay! Hau'oli City is right there! Right there!" he chanted musically. "The sooner we get there, the sooner we can take on the trial! And win the trial!" At this point, the Sea Lion Pokemon was spinning around, as happy as ever. "Yay! Yay! Yay!"

The Pokemon's trainer couldn't help but smile as well now. Abby still wasn't sure that it was truly Hau'oli City ahead of them, but she didn't seem at all concerned anymore. Instead, she simply shrugged her shoulders and asked, "Maybe Hood could fly ahead and check it out?"

Luke blinked his eyes several times in rapid succession after hearing the question. He had nearly forgotten about his starter. He glanced down and out of the corner of his eyes, spotted Hood, looking right back up at his trainer. The creature looked completely unabashed while staring, almost as though he had been waiting for the blond to acknowledge that he was still there. Luke moved his head to look downwards, no longer trying to hide his line of vision. He glanced right at Hood, staring him in the eyes.

' _How in the world did I forget about my own Pokemon the second day of having him?'_ he thought, feeling embarrassed. Luke didn't allow that feeling to be shown, though, and wasted no time in repeating Abby's question.

"Could you go check ahead?" he asked calmly, his voice betraying nothing of what he was thinking.

The Rowlet didn't answer immediately, instead simply tilting his head to the right about thirty degrees. There was a short silence as the two did nothing but stare. It felt like minutes to Luke. It felt as though time had slowed down while the two said nothing, each of them simply waiting for the other to say or do something. Before Luke said anything, Hood reacted.

"I'll scout ahead," he said simply, answering the question finally.

The Grass Quill Pokemon flew off without another word to anyone just as Luke released a deep breath that he didn't even recall holding. He recovered quickly, though, and looked to his left, back to Abby. Thankfully for the blond, his best friend was looking over at Popplio, so she didn't see the interaction between Luke and his starter.

The group of three then decided to sit down while waiting for Hood to come back. Abby plopped onto the ground in a hurry, and Popplio leaped into her arms with a giggle. The two began talking animatedly, but Luke wasn't listening. At the same time, he slowly dropped to his bottom, sitting on the ground with his legs in front of him, bent at the knees. His hands laid beneath his legs then, palms opened and held against the earth. Luke stayed in that position and decided to just think while waiting on his starter Pokemon.

To his dismay, only one thought crept in: the fact that he forgot he had a Pokemon partner.

' _I've been looking forward to going on a journey of my own for so long. I wanted nothing more than to be myself, finally away from all of them,'_ he thought, images of his family popping into his mind. ' _Why is it that, now that I've started and have a Pokemon of my own, can I not accept it!? Why can't Hood be like Popplio and be easy to talk to!? Why does he have to be so silent!? Why doesn't he talk more!? Why is he-'_

Luke had a sudden realization that stopped him dead in his tracks, so to speak. He slowly brought his head down, moving nearly mechanically. It was almost as though the blond was in a trance as he moved and could only watch his action through an outside perspective. Luke's hands came up from their spot on the ground and were now in between Luke's chest and his knees. His fingers were now spread and the new trainer stared blankly at his own two hands.

' _Why is he just like me?'_

The rage that he had been feeling at both himself and Hood from early evaporated on the spot. The one thought stopped him cold.

' _Why is he just like me?'_

Luke couldn't help but think of anything but that now. Nothing else seemed important anymore- not his family, the Island Trials, or even Abby. It may have only been two days with Hood, but after finally figuring his starter Pokemon out like he did, Luke's entire outlook on the Rowlet changed.

' _He's just like me.'_

The blond could do nothing but repeat that statement over and over through his mind. He thought of nothing more until the Pokemon in question returned, flying into sight just above the treeline. Popplio was the first to spot him, and naturally, made quite the commotion over it.

"It's Hood! It's Hood! It's Hood!" he cried, clapping his fins together yet again. "He found Hau'oli City! I'm sure of it! Yay! Yay! Yay!"

Abby giggled at her partner's reaction but didn't dispute. She clearly didn't seem to care whether the light was Hau'oli City or not anymore. She just looked happy to be adventuring with her partner.

' _If only…'_ Luke mused disappointedly at the thought of journeying without any worries.

Cutting his line of thinking short, Hood arrived just then, floating down to the ground between Luke, Abby, and Popplio. Without looking at any of them in particular, he simply stated, "It's a house."

Abby, always quick to respond, asked, "A house? Not Hau'oli City?"

Hood simply shook his head in response, not saying a thing. Abby sighed quickly, but soon got over it, not appearing to be phased in the slightest by the news. Popplio, however, didn't take the news as well. He looked down to the ground, his nose nearly touching the earth.

"Nooooooo." he moaned. "I was so hoping it was Hau'oli City…"

Abby smiled fondly at her partner and rubbed his back. "Don't worry, Popplio," she told the water type. "We'll get to Hau'oli City soon. We haven't really walked far enough to be close anyways."

Upon hearing the comforting words, Popplio looked back up and instantly, his grin was back. It was as though he was never sad in the least.

"Yippee!" he cried. "Let's go to the house! The Hau'oli City!"

As per his usual, Popplio then proceeded to clap his fins together again, just as rapidly as the previous times. Abby laughed at the sight, but before she could say anything, a quiet voice cut through once more.

"Hau'oli City isn't far from the house," he added. "Only a few miles past it from what I could see."

Both Abby's and Popplio's faces lit up even more at the news. Their goal was even closer than they thought!

"Well!?" Abby cried, her grin stretching as far as it could from her excitement. "Let's get going!"

For the first time since Hood came back from scouting, Luke looked up. He had been zoned out, thinking in his own world once again when he heard the shout from his best friend. He blinked rapidly, attempting to refocus on where he was.

' _I can't dwell on that now,'_ he told himself, referring to his and Hood's similarities. ' _I'll think about that later. I have to get going now before Abby questions something.'_

With the goal of hiding his distress from his childhood friend lodged in his head, Luke was able to focus on the task at hand: getting to the house that Hood had found. The Rowlet, for his part, followed along silently, his eyes shifting between the road ahead of them and his trainer's back as he walked.

"Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!" Popplio cried as the group marched onwards, he and Abby blissfully unaware of the duo's thoughts behind them.

* * *

When they arrived at the clearing the house was in, Luke was pleasantly surprised at how serene everything felt. They had been walking through trees to get to here, but as soon as they arrived within fifty feet of the structure, the trees stopped, leaving a fifty foot radius of level grass around the house.

The building itself was simple. Gray siding was nailed to the walls with wooden beams at each corner. There was a stairway leading up to a wooden porch with the front door. Gray shingles hung to the roof of the house and attached to the side was a garage with a jeep parked in front of the garage door. Stone borders went around the structure about teen feet away from it with metal fencing standing atop the stone.

To Luke, It was almost strange how peaceful the area felt. The whole time that they walked through the forest, Pokemon cries were heard all around. The group was able to make it through without being attacked thankfully, but the sounds of the creatures were heard nonetheless. As soon as they stepped into the clearing, no sounds were heard. The only proof of life anywhere was the light breeze that made the grass wave slightly.

Abby took in a deep breath, exhaled, then said, "This feels really nice here; it's so peaceful."

She turned around to look towards Luke for his opinion on the matter, but before he could say anything, the front door of the house swung open. A familiar-looking man walked through the entryway wearing a black jacket, red T-shirt, blue jeans, and a pair of black running shoes. His skin, like the majority of Alolans- not counting Abby and Nicole- was tan, and he had dirty blond hair atop his head.

Unlike the casual breath she took only a moment before, Abby inhaled sharply at the sight of the man. She knew exactly who this was and was clearly surprised by his appearance. Luke, too, knew he was, and his reaction was similar to Abby's. His eyes widened and looked straight forward.

At that exact moment, the man, too, looked ahead, and his eyes trained immediately on Luke's. The two men locked eyes for one moment, and Luke felt a shiver shoot through his spine in response. The man seemed to radiate pure power, and there was an easy explanation for it.

"The Champion of Alola…" Abby whispered in disbelief, rubbing her eyes with her hands, as if trying to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

"Ace Soldat…" Luke muttered, speaking the name of the most powerful trainer in Alola. "Why is he here?"

Abby had no answer for her friend other than silence. The two new trainers stood in awe of the man in front of them. The man in question, however, began to walk out towards them, but he, too, said nothing. Luke watched as he walked towards them, and a strange feeling he wasn't able to identify surged through him.

The feeling wasn't one that he could identify. He felt nervousness at the sight of the most powerful trainer in Alola- the Champion- walking towards, awe at the power he seemed to radiate, yet there was one other feeling inside that he couldn't figure out. He felt something in his gut at the sight of the man, but pushed it aside. He couldn't act weird in front of someone like Ace Soldat.

Abby, however, seemed to get over her nervousness as the Champion got closer to them. She was almost bouncing in place from excitement when he got within ten feet of them. Apparently, it was quite the entertaining sight, because just then, the man smiled at them. It wasn't a smile by any conventional standard, Luke thought, but more of a smirk.

The right side of the Champion's mouth was curled upwards for a moment, but disappeared just as quickly when he was within speaking distance of the two trainers. Now about five feet away from Luke and Abby, the man revealed a genuine smile.

"You two strike me as new trainers," he said simply, his sky blue eyes shining in the evening sun. "Am I right in assuming that?"

Abby nodded her head enthusiastically in response.

"Yes, sir! We just received our Pokemon from Professor Kukui yesterday and started adventuring today and we're going to Hau'oli City and we think we're getting close but we came across this house and I'm guessing it's your house now that you're here and-"

"You might want to take a breath," the man cut in, ending Abby's rambling.

The blonde girl flushed when she realized how she was reacting to meeting the Champion. She looked down towards the ground to stop from embarrassing herself any further. However, before she could, the man stuck his hand out in front of her. She looked up towards him instantly to see him smiling at her, same glistening in his eyes.

"My name is Ace Soldat. It's a pleasure to meet you…" He trailed off while looking Abby expectantly, hoping for her to fill in her own name.

Her eyes grew even wider upon hearing this. She took in one deep breath, but before she could begin rambling again, Luke stepped forwards finally reacting for the first time since Ace had made it to them. He cut her off before she could begin, attempting to introduce them both of the man.

"Her name is Abby Duke, and I am-"

"Luke Jackson," Ace finished with a smile. "You're Alexa's and Nicole's little brother. I remember you from the day I named your sister the Fairy Trial Captain. Both of them talk fondly about you."

Luke cringed at hearing that. He couldn't help it. Even when in front of his home region's Champion, hearing about his family's accomplishments shrunk him down figuratively. He felt like he was nothing more than a little boy waiting for his family to do everything for him.

Abby, too distracted by Ace, didn't notice, but the Champion saw the movement. He didn't say anything, though, instead moving on in the conversation. Looking between both of the new trainers, he said, "It's really nice meeting you, Abby," he paused and bowed his head to the girl. "and seeing you again, Luke," Once again, he bowed his head, but this time to the blond. "but I have to be going. I have to meet with one of the Champions at the Ruins of Conflict. He's expecting me soon, so I have to be leaving."

Abby nodded her head repeatedly. "We understand completely! We'd hate to interrupt you! Please, don't mind us! Enjoy! Have fun!" She smiled widely at the man who, again, couldn't help but smile.

Ace then looked over to Luke, nodded his head, and continued, "Thank you very much. Like you said, this is my house, so if you'd like to stop or rest for a while, feel free. Make yourselves at home." They both thanked the man before he walked past them

Ace bent down on one knee after passing the two new trainers and smiled at the two Pokemon who were standing behind their trainers, confused as to why this man was special. However, Popplio smiled at him anyways as he began to speak.

"I hope you two work hard and be just as strong as I'm sure you can be."

With that, he stood back up and prepared to walk away. Popplio thanked him as he walked away, but before he could get far, Hood's quiet voice spoke up, making him stop.

"You seem strong. But we're going to be stronger."

Those two sentences were all he said, and even when Ace turned around to look at the Pokemon, Hood said no more. The Champion smiled slightly at the creature and nodded his head.

"I hope you do. I'll be waiting."

With that said, Ace Soldat, the most powerful man in Alola, walked away. Within moments, he seemed to disappear in the forest. It took the group a few moments to recover from the brief meeting, but when they did, Abby and Popplio reacted just as Luke expected them to.

"Wow! Wow! Wow!" the cried together, their smiles as wide as ever.

"He's so strong and still so nice!" Abby exclaimed.

"He's nice! Nice! Nice! Nice!" Popplio cheered.

Luke couldn't help but smile in agreement while Hood just watched the area Ace walked towards, almost as though he was waiting for the man to reappear. The blond noticed his partner's line of vision, and the sight brought the uneasy feeling in his gut back. Before he could think about it, though, Abby was yanking on his arm.

"C'mon! We have to keep going!" she told the blond. "I'd really enjoy taking Ace up on his offer to rest here, but we're _so_ close to Hau'oli City! We have to keep going, Luke!" The blond quickly nodded his head in response, so Abby cried, "Let's go!"

With that said, the group of four continued on, walking past Ace's house, towards their first destination on their journey: Hau'oli City. While meeting the Champion, a man Luke has looked up to for five years now, was amazing, they couldn't let that distract them. Their journey was now; no time to wait. This was their chance to shine!

' _I'm going to beat him someday. I swear it'_ Luke swore.

Little did the blond know, but Hood was thinking the exact same thing. This goal was firmly implanted in the minds of both trainer and Pokemon. Nothing would keep them from fulfilling it.

* * *

 **Well, first off, I am so, so, so sorry for how long this took. I'm currently taking two summer courses at a local college before my first semester at university. Those drain up a lot of my time, and the rest is enjoying my last summer before university with my family, girlfriend and high school pals. That doesn't leave much time for fanfiction, but I'm doing my best, I promise. My classes end at the beginning of August, so I'll have two weeks of free time (I hope!) before I leave mid-August. Thanks for your continued patience everyone!**

 **I have something planned that I think a lot of you will enjoy. It'll probably be late July/early August before anything is done for it, though. I think you will all like it- I hope. Anyways, thanks for reading! Hopefully the next chapter comes sooner than this one did!**

 **1\. Thoughts on Ace?**

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** _Duped by the Dex!_

Finally arriving in Hau'oli City, Luke and Abby stop at a building on the outskirts of the island's only major city. When they arrive, the two trainers meet up with Professor Kukui, who has a gift for each of them. This gift turns out to be quite the nuisance for Luke originally, though. Will he be able to get through the issues?

* * *

 **Melemele Arc**

 **Chapter 6:** _Battling for Brunch?_

 **Chapter 7:** _Standoff in the Sand!_

 **Chapter 8:** _First Taste of a Trial_

 **Chapter 9:** _Dimming the Star_

 **Chapter 10:** _Feeling the Heat!_


	5. Duped by the Dex!

**Theme Song**

 _ **When you look around, and all seems small**_ _(Luke looks around his bedroom and sighs)_

 _ **You want to climb, but always fall**_ _(Luke slides backwards across the ground in pain, Hood in his arms)_

 _ **Glancing up, your goals look far**_ _(Luke stands beneath a mountain with three figures standing above him, blocking a trophy)_

 _ **Get through the past, you'll be a star!**_ _(Luke, Hood, and two other Pokemon stand together on a pedestal)_

 _ **Stand up! (2) We'll win the fight!**_ _(Hood shoots a Razor Leaf, another Pokemon uses Bite, and the last Pokemon uses Iron Tail)_

 _ **Look up!**_ _(Luke holds a gray crystal into the air with his right arm, grinning widely)_

 _ **Your future's bright!**_ _(Luke shakes hands with a brown-haired adult)_

 _ **Fight hard! (2x)**_ _(Hood and a bipedal, fire type Pokemon stand across from each other in battle stances)_

 _ **Your dream's in sight**_ _(Ace stands across from Luke in a huge stadium)_

 _ **And if the fight gets too rough**_ _(A four-legged Pokemon falls to the ground in pain)_

 _ **Your friends are there to help you up**_ _(Abby and Jason hold out their hands to Luke)_

 _ **Never hold your dreams inside**_ _(Luke sits on the ground as the sun sets in the west and the moon appears in the east)_

 _ **Let them out, and you will thrive!**_ _(Luke travels along a dirt path with Hood flying beside him)_

 _ **Pokémon!**_

* * *

 **Last chapter wasn't very action-packed admittedly, but we did see Luke and Abby meet the Champion of Alola, Ace Soldat, at his house in the woods. However, Ace couldn't stay and chat for long; he had a meeting with another Champion. Thus, the two new trainers kept on moving, heading onwards to Hau'oli City once more!**

 **If you have been looking for more action recently, I'm proud to say that we've got a battle in this chapter! I hope you all enjoy it!**

* * *

 **BouncingFish:** Miracle indeed! Me updating is definitely odd, this time included! xD I'm glad that you're liking the consistency. I've been doing my best to keep Luke in character, and so far, I'm finding that he is one of my favorite characters ever. He feels so natural to write, rather than the somewhat-forced feeling I got when writing Will since his personality is so much further from mine than Luke's is. His inner monologue, as you say, is something that will probably be present in every chapter. I've enjoyed giving a lot of depth to his thoughts. Who knows who Ace went to see? Maybe you at the end of this chappie? \\(o_0)/ I like the comment you made on being repetitive. I tried working on that here, so I'd appreciate any feedback on it! Thanks for the review!

 **El Torro:** If I knew such a simple nickname could strike you to your core, I'd have killed you years ago! *Cue evil laughing* xD Anyways, I'm glad that you see Luke and Abby's friendship as believable. To me, they are that one duo that is so different yet still amazing friends. At least, that's what I've been shooting towards. Thanks for the grammar fix there. I had no clue! Luke and his family definitely have ties with Ace, so he isn't so tight-lipped with Ace. The Jacksons, as you will be seeing a lot soon, are definitely well-known in Alola so Luke is definitely going to need to step up his game. Thanks for the review!

* * *

 **Luke's Team:**

 **-Hood (Rowlet):** _Tackle, Leafage, Growl, Peck_

* * *

"Welcome to the Pokemon Center!"

A pink-haired nurse was standing at the counter of the Pokemon hospital as Luke and Abby walked in through the sliding glass doors, Hood and Popplio both behind their respective trainer. Both blondes had appreciative smiles on their tired faces as they walked inside and saw Nurse Joy standing at the counter.

"Thank goodness," Abby muttered tiredly to Luke, sighing a breath of relief. "It feels so good to finally be in Hau'oli City."

"I know what you mean," he replied, a small smile on his face.

The duo walked up to the counter and recalled both of their starter Pokemon to the creatures' respective Pokeballs before handing Nurse Joy the capsules, with Abby also bringing out Pikipek's Pokeball. The pink-haired woman happily took all three of the spheres with a smile, glad to help the trainers out.

With their Pokemon being healed, Luke and Abby went to go sit down at a nearby table to the left of the doorway. Right next to their table was a large window that had quite the beautiful view. From their spot inside of the Pokemon Center, Luke and Abby were able see the oceanic view that everyone in Alola learns to love at an early age. They watched the waves come and crash against the shore then recede again, leaving only foam as the water moved back to the ocean. The sun was beginning to set, painting the beach with a brilliant hue of orange.

The sight had a calming effect on the exhausted duo. This may have only been the first day of their journey, but traveling all day is a big difference that would take some getting used to. Both trainers slumped down into their chairs further, resting as much as their bodies would allow. Abby was nearly asleep in her chair as they waited for Nurse Joy to finish the check up on their Pokemon. Luke, however, was slightly more awake than his best friend.  
The blond decided to stare outside, entertaining himself by enjoying the sights the area had to offer. The lovely sights that Luke tried to enjoy, though, contained something less than comforting to the teen he learned quickly.

"HAU'OLI CITY: A CITY OVERFLOWING WITH GENTLE JOY. TWO MILES NORTH."

A large billboard with a picture of a young child smiling dominated the street past the Pokemon Center just north of the beachside view Luke and Abby had been staring at. The sight of the sign confused the blond since he thought that he and his friend had finally arrived in Melemele Island's largest city.

"Abby…" he began to say, trailing off afterwards. The blonde girl continued to doze peacefully, however, either unable to hear Luke or ignoring him. The boy frowned slightly, and spoke up again, louder this time. "Abby…"

His tone sounded more pressing this time, and that seemed to do the trick, even if only slightly. This time, the girl opened her right eye a bit, just enough to see her friend in front of her.

"What do you want, Luke?" she asked, sounding slightly annoyed.

The teen sighed in response before speaking up, trying to find the best way to phrase his next sentence.

"We might not be in Hau'oli City after all…"

There was a slight pause after he said that. Luke figured that his friend was trying to comprehend what he had said. Abby was always dead to the world when she was tired. For his entire life, it had always been difficult getting her to concentrate on nearly anything when she was tired. However, this turned out to be one of the rare moments, and Abby began to glare as her brain thought about what she was just told.

After a couple of more moments of silence, Luke heard her ask, "So is this Hau'oli City or not?"

As soon as heard her say that, Luke brought out the map that his father had given him of Melemele Island for his journey. The blonde girl was looking incredibly confused and slightly annoyed as Luke stared at it. Her brow was furrowed and she bit down on her bottom lip as she stared directly at her friend. The blond frowned slightly as he stared at the picture, looking as though he wasn't quite sure how to answer the girl's question.

Despite the fact that both of the new trainers have lived on Melemele Island for their whole lives, they rarely strayed too far past Iki Town. Anytime they went further was generally with either Ride Pokemon or vehicles. Thus, the two were quite confused as to where they currently were. They had walked a few more miles after passing by Ace's mysterious home in the woods and were quite pleased when they saw the red-roofed building in the distance. However, they apparently weren't as close to their destination as they previously thought.

The map said nothing about a Pokemon Center before Hau'oli City, just as Luke thought. Between Iki Town and Hau'oli was nothing. Or so he had thought.

 _'Oh shit!'_

At that exact moment, Luke noticed a somewhat-large gray building southeast of Hau'oli City. The blond never recalled passing by something like that, and it seemed to stand right along the road leading to the city. His face must have shown clearly that Luke found something, because Luke was pulled from his thoughts by Abby.

"Luke!"

The girl nearly shouted at her friend to get his attention. Thankfully for the duo, there was no one else currently in the Pokemon Center lobby, so no one got upset by the sudden loud noise. Luke, now paying attention completely to Abby, saw her holding out her right hand expectantly. It looked like she wanted to see what Luke noticed on the map.

"What did you see on there?" she asked, knowing for a fact that there was something. "Are we in Hau'oli City or not?"

Just before Luke could answer, the sliding glass door behind the nurse's desk opened up, and the pink-haired woman came walking out smiling with three Pokeballs on the try in her hands. The sight of Nurse Joy coming in distracted Luke and Abby for a moment, and they both got up and walked over to the counter, glad to see their Pokemon back, even if in their capsules.

"Your Pokemon are all just fine," she told them immediately. "They just needed a bit of a rest from the traveling."

The woman smiled at the two new trainers, both of whom responded with relieved smiles of their own. However, the looks on their faces soon changed, reverting back to the confused expressions they wore before the woman came back.

"Nurse Joy…" Luke began, trailing off as the woman tilted her head to her left slightly, appearing to be confused.

"How may I help you, dearie?" she asked, smiling affectionately as a mother would a child.

The blond took a deep breath, clearly not enjoying having to ask for directions the first day of his journey.

 _'It's only day one, and we are already lost. How pathetic are we?'_

Aloud, however, he asked, "Are we not in Hau'oli City yet, ma'am?"

Upon hearing the question, Nurse Joy smiled warmly again, not appearing to be shocked at all by the question.

"I get that question a lot actually," she told the duo, looking back and forth between them now. She paused for a moment as Luke and Abby both sighed out of sheer relief. "A lot of new trainers come in here thinking that they have made it to Hau'oli City."

Luke and Abby shared a look at that part; they were now sure that they were not actually at their first destination yet.

"We're actually on the outskirts of the city, about two miles away from the entrance," Nurse Joy continued before the trainers could ask where they were then. "This Pokemon Center is a fairly new one, so it isn't in a lot of maps."

Luke felt grateful when he heard that. It wasn't his fault that he didn't see this on the map; it wasn't there! Nurse Joy smiled as the boy sighed once again. Before the woman could say anything else, though, Abby asked a new question.

"So why is this Pokemon Center here then if we're only two miles away?"

Luke perked up again upon hearing his best friend's question. His mind instantly went back to the gray building he saw on his map. He may have had no idea what it was, but he was now certain it was something important enough to have a Pokemon Center built by it.

"The Pokemon Trainers' School!" Nurse Joy answered, a shining glint in her eyes. The woman spoke the name with pride, clearly fond of the school. "It is a large building that has been outside of Hau'oli City for a long time! Two years ago, a couple of years after Mr. Soldat became Champion, he decided that there should be a Pokemon Center nearby the school in case a student's Pokemon got injured during training! So, they built this Center here; it finished construction just a little more than a year ago now!"

Luke and Abby gave each other yet another inside look. This one didn't seem annoyed or relieved like before; this look was different. The two trainers were each smiling now, obviously liking what they were hearing.

"The school is close to here then?" Abby asked a moment later, turning back towards Nurse Joy.

The pink-haired woman nodded her head and said, "Yes, it is, just a little less than half a mile north."

This time, it was Luke who responded.

"Are we able to go and train there?" he asked as Abby nodded her head, both of them clearly hoping to hear a yes.

Nurse Joy nodded her head eagerly, appearing to be as excited as the trainers standing ahead of her. "Oh, yes," she replied. "In fact, they welcome new trainers to come visit!"

Luke and Abby now knew exactly what they were going to do in the morning. If the Trainers' School was eager to teach, then they were even more eager to learn! Abby giggled a bit as Luke grinned. Nurse Joy, upon seeing their responses, asked, "Would you like me to inform the dean that you two will be coming to visit?"

Without bothering to check with the other, both of the new trainers nodded their heads enthusiastically.

"Yes please!" they answered at the same time, causing them both to smile even wider.

The nurse smiled and left behind the counter to make the call. Luke and Abby turned to each other and neither of them were able to shake off the huge grins on their faces. Both of them were so excited to visit the Trainers' School tomorrow.

"We'll about raising a team!" Abby cheered.

"And learn more about our Pokemon!" Luke added.

Then, at the same time, they cried, "And battling!"

Unable to hold in their enthusiasm anymore, both Luke and Abby began to laugh. As hard as the first day of their journey might have been- all of the walking, having to follow their map, and the always-present threat of getting lost- they were finally Pokemon trainers. That dream was in their minds for their entire lives, and finally, they were able to do what they wanted more than anything else.

Abby could barely control herself. The smile on her face never left then entire time that they were waiting for Nurse Joy to return and she would occasionally just laugh out of nowhere. Luke, too, had the same smile on his face that he wore before, but the same level of excitement that Abby had was not there.

Worries never truly leave someone. They are just pushed away for a while.

 _'How will I ever actually surpass them? All three of them are known throughout the region as some of the best trainers Alola has seen in decades. How can I ever actually shine?'_

As always, those thoughts were in Luke's mind. For a bit, he was able to keep them in the back of his mind, the happiness from starting his journey being at the forefront. However, they were starting to seep back up on him like a disease. Thankfully for the blond, Nurse Joy arrived just then, walking back into the lobby from her back room.

"I just got off of the phone with the dean; he is excited to see you tomorrow!" she told the blondes. "Let me get you each a room for the night, and you can head over there in the morning. How's that sound?"

Abby, always the social one, was quick to respond, saying, "Thank you so much, Nurse Joy!"

Luke, shortly after his friend spoke, echoed her. "Thanks for your help," he said with a small smile.

Nurse Joy then proceeded to find them each a room for themselves. With the Pokemon Center empty other than them, it wasn't difficult. The two new trainers then headed to their rooms after agreeing to meet downstairs for breakfast next morning around nine.

Upon entering his room, he quickly showered, changed into pajamas, brushed his teeth, and plopped into his bed. The whole process took him about ten minutes, but the very second that he laid in his bed, Luke was dead to the world. He fell asleep nearly as soon as his head hit his pillow.

There was only one thing on his mind as he went to sleep, and it was the same thought that he had nearly every night.

 _'Will I ever actually be as good as them?'_

 **000**

A large, several story building stood in front of Luke and Abby after walking about half a mile from the Pokemon Center. From the description that Nurse Joy gave them before they left, the two trainers were sure that this was the Pokemon Trainers' School.

There was a stone wall around the premises of the building with a metal fence right above the cobble, coming out to be around ten feet tall. To their left, in front of the school, were several battlefields drawn in the dirt with tall palm trees placed between the battlegrounds and the border. To the right of the entrance was several parking spots placed along the wall.

There were several cars parked against the wall, and the overwhelming majority of them were simple compact cars. These vehicles all seemed to fit into the stereotype of teacher cars, Luke thought. However, there was one vehicle that looked as though it didn't quite belong. The vehicle in question was a door-less jeep sitting in a visitor parking spot furthest away from the school.

Then, Luke finally looked directly forward, only now getting a good look at the building. There were rows upon rows of what appeared to be brick lining the walls with the occasional window put in. There were three stories in the school, each of them all looking the same as the first. Right in the middle of the structure was a walkway with a small flight of stairs that led to the official doorway of the school.

All in all, Luke was unimpressed by the school, especially after hearing all of the praise that Nurse Joy had for it the night before. However, before he could think anymore about how the school looked, a woman began to walk towards them from beneath one of the palm trees. She was wearing a knee-length red dress and had shoulder-length brown hair. She seemed to be in her late twenties or early thirties and was somewhat tall, seeming to be about Luke's height of 5'9".

The woman had a bright smile on her face as she made her way over to Luke and Abby. The new trainers assumed this woman was a teacher, so they began to walk towards her, leaving the school's entryway. Once they reached within a respectable speaking distance of about ten feet apart, the woman spoke for the first time.

"Good morning!" she greeted with a welcoming smile. "You two are Luke Jackson and Abby Duke, correct?"

The duo was slightly surprised by her knowing their names, but brushed it off.

 _'We're probably the only new trainers coming in today,'_ Luke assumed.

However, his mind suddenly recalled the familiar-looking jeep he had seen in the parking lot. Before he could think any further on it, though, the blond heard Abby speak up next to him, answering for the both of them.

"Yes, ma'am," she replied, nodding her head with a smile. "We're here to learn more about being trainers."

The woman nodded her head, her smile growing wider. She then looked to her right, her focus shifted over to Luke. The blond smiled as well, sincerely excited to be at the Trainer's School and to learn more about Pokemon training.

Aloud, he asked, "What will we be learning today, Miss…?"

He trailed off at the end while looking at the woman expectantly, hoping that she would introduce herself to them since they did not yet know her name. Taking the hint, the woman held out both of her palms in front of her, facing upwards in a welcoming position.

"My name is Miss Damon. I'm one of the newest teachers here at the school," she said with a smile. "You'll be learning some battling tips today."

Luke nodded his head and reciprocated her smile, but said nothing. Abby, however, asked, "Will you be teaching us, Miss Damon?"

Nodding her head, she answered, "No, I won't be." Miss Damon then smiled at the two trainers anyways, whom each smiled back in response, albeit slightly hesitant. Noticing that, Miss Damon continued, saying, "I might not be teaching you today, but I am going to introduce you to our dean whom is currently with another guest who claims to know the both of you and _will_ be teaching you today."

Luke and Abby both raised their eyebrows upon hearing that, confused as to who would be there to see them. Abby's first thought was that it was a family member or someone. Luke, however, had another idea.

' _I'm guessing it's the same person that came here in the jeep,'_ he thought.

Before either of them could ask aloud as to who it was, though, Miss Damon turned around, her back now facing the two trainers as she began to walk towards the school. "Please follow me," she told Luke and Abby as she moved.

The two blondes shrugged their shoulders, deciding that they would figure out who the other guest was soon enough.

 **000**

The answer to Luke's and Abby's question came sooner than they were expecting. Miss Damon had informed them that the dean and his guest were standing outside by the battlefields to watch them during their lesson while they were walking.

When they heard that their lesson from the Trainer's School was going to involve the battlefield, both Luke and Abby were pretty excited. The only formal battle that either of them have had since receiving their first Pokemon two days before was with each other, so the thought of having another battle pumped both of them up even more.

When they made it to the fenced-in area around the battlefield, the group of three quickly spotted a tall, stocky man in a full black suit jacket standing next to a familiar-looking man standing in baggy gray shorts and a white lab coat.

"Professor Kukui!"

Luke and Abby both exclaimed the name excitedly, happy to see the familiar man that gave them the both of them their starter Pokemon. The professor turned to his left, towards the trio coming towards him, and grinned widely.

He waved his arms out in front of him like a rainbow and greeted them, saying, "Alola, new trainers! I bet you're surprised to see me here!"

Luke and Abby, having jogged past Miss Damon to make it to Kukui faster, each grinned widely, glad to see the jolly man.

"You can say that again," Abby responded, chuckling. "I wasn't expecting it to be you at all," she admitted.

Luke, agreeing to an extent, said, "I saw what I'm guessing was your jeep, but I wasn't sure it was you."

Before the professor could respond, the man in the formal suit standing beside him came forwards to face Luke and Abby. The man was a couple of inches taller than Luke and even taller than Kukui. He had jet black hair with dark eyes and tan skin. The man seemed to have a gleam in his eyes as he looked at the two trainers, clearly happy to be at the Trainer's School.

"Good morning," he greeted with a welcoming smile. "I'm now sure that you," he pointed towards the blonde girl. "Must be Abby Duke. And you," he began, now looking straight at Luke. "Are, without a doubt, the son of Marcus Jackson. I know that fiery look from anywhere."

Luke felt as though he had been struck. This was the third day of journey, and on each of those three days, someone had mentioned his family's accomplishments and compared them to him.

' _How am I ever going to make a name for myself if all anyone knows me as is the son of Marcus Jackson! Or the brother of Alexa or Nicole!'_

Abby looked over towards her best friend, sure that he was going to be affected by the comparison. The blond seemed to watch his friend look towards him in slow motion. How many times in his life has he been compared to his family? And how many times has Abby thought she needs to comfort him after?

' _I can't go through this journey with Abby looking over me the whole time. I'm going to always be compared to them; that will never change. I can't burden her with thinking she needs to always be thinking about how I'm feeling. If I can't get past this, there's no reason for me to bring her down with me.'_

That thought in mind, despite how much it pained him to do so, Luke hesitantly smiled back at the dean just as Abby looked at him. She was expecting to see the usual pained look that he had, so the smile completely surprised her. She doubted that it was completely sincere, but said nothing anyways.

Despite the fact that Luke was having an internal battle, he let none if it show. The dean continued on, introducing himself formally.

"Well," he began puffing up his chest slightly as he spoke. "As I'm sure that you both have guessed, I am the dean of this school. All of the students call me Dean Bennet." Just then, Miss Damon arrived at the spot by the battlefields where the group was speaking, finally catching up after Luke and Abby dashed ahead. "And I see you have met my newest teacher, Miss Damon."

The woman in question smiled and said, "Yes, they have, sir. Good morning, Dean Bennet, Professor Kukui."

The lab coat-wearing man grinned and waved once more, saying, "Alola, Miss Damon! I hope these two newbie trainers weren't too much for you to handle," he added with a wink at Luke and Abby, both of whom smiled at the joke, though the latter's being more genuine.

"Well, Professor, after knowing you for so long, trainers like these all seem polite," she replied, playfully jabbing the man verbally. Looking towards the two trainers, she explained, "Professor Kukui actually gave me my first Pokemon ten years ago, too. He's always been this odd, trust me."

Abby and Dean Bennet both laughed at the joke heartily, while Luke just smiled, getting past the mention of his family. After the laughter died down, Miss Damon looked over towards the dean, now serious.

"I informed Luke and Abby that our guest, Professor Kukui, would be the one teaching them today," she told him. "Should we let them get to it then?"

The dean nodded his head in response, looking towards the professor. "That sounds good to me. Kukui, are you ready to go?"

The Alolan grinned in response and clapped his hands together. "You bet I am!" he exclaimed, looking extremely eager. "I've been waiting for this moment all morning!" Turning to face the two young trainers, he asked, "Are you both ready to go!?"

Luke and Abby looked at each other once more, and both of them nodded enthusiastically, the mentioning of Luke's family almost completely out of his mind. Seeing their responses, Professor Kukui brought his right hand to the inside of his lab coat and grabbed two red devices. Then, he brought his left hand to his belt and grabbed two Pokeballs.

In one swift motion, the man released the Pokemon from inside each of the spheres. In a bright flash of red, two Pokemon of the same species appeared. They were both shaped like orange lightning rods with bright blue eyes. There was whitish-blue aura around them that became lightning bolt-shaped arms on either side of each creature.

The first creature that came out stood in front of Kukui patiently, smiling at the two trainers in front of them, while the other dashed over to Luke and Abby through the air, smiling widely right in front of them. Both blondes flinched backwards, surprised by the sudden appearance right in front of them.

"Say hello to Rotom, you two!" Kukui said excitedly, rubbing his palms together in front of him.

The first Rotom nodded its head towards the two trainers as the other spun around enthusiastically in the air in front of them. The professor, Dean Bennet, and Miss Damon all chuckled slightly at the Rotom's actions, but Luke and Abby both were glancing at it with weird looks, unsure as to why it was acting this way.

"Er…Hi, Rotom," Luke said to the two Pokemon, his right eyebrow raised high.

Abby had the same reaction as Luke, saying, "Um...Hi, Rotom."

The first Rotom simply nodded in the direction of the trainers and smiled, seeming to be the quiet type. The second Rotom, however, was completely different. It zipped right in between the two blondes, giggling the entire time. After a few moments of buzzing around, he shot back over towards Kukui.

"Hellooooooo!" he called as he floated back to the ground in front of the professor.

Kukui laughed more at the display, clearly finding Rotom amusing. After a moment, he composed himself, now grabbing one of the devices from his right hand with his left. Now, with one device in his left hand and the other in this right, Kukui spread his palms outwards, facing towards the two trainers.

"Do either of you two know what these devices are?" he asked seriously, his earlier comedic side now hidden.

Luke and Abby turned towards each other slightly, each looking at the other with a slightly confused look in their eyes. They both thought that they knew, the appearance of the two Rotoms confused them slightly.

"Pokedexes…?" Abby answered unsurely, tilting her head to the left slightly as she spoke.

Kukui said nothing in response, though, instead turning towards Luke as though he expected an answer from him as well. The blond bit the left side of his lip as he looked between the two machines in the professor's hands and the two electric type Pokemon that were floating in front of the man.

 _'They really do just look like Pokedexes,'_ he mused. _'But if that's all they are, what in the world did he bring the Rotoms for?"_

Aloud, however, Luke tried to sound more confident than he felt. "Pokedexes," he answered, repeating Abby's answer but with somewhat more certainty.

Grinning once more, the professor stared right at Luke, but didn't say a word. Instead, he just shook his head, surprising both Luke and Abby. If they weren't Pokedexes, they had no idea what these things were. Before they could ask, though, Kukui spoke up again.

"These are not Pokedexes, trainers…" He paused there, stopping for what seemed to be dramatic effect. Luke was confused, raising his eyebrow at the act. Why say that aloud just after shaking his head? "…They are so much more!" he shouted suddenly, just before the blond boy could speak.

Fully energized, Professor Kukui ended his attempt at appearing serious. He was clearly excited about whatever this was, Luke thought, because the man seemed ready to burst. Kukui had bent his knees, brought both of his arms up and crossed them in front of his chest, and begun to shake a little bit.

Luke wanted to speak up here, slightly concerned for the professor at this point, but before he could, Kukui shouted once more, this time louder than Luke had ever hear the man yell.

"These, dear trainers, are the latest batch of brilliance that technology has to offer! These are Rotom Pokedexes! A combination of 'mon and machine! A technological masterpiece! A work of art! A-"

"-Yes, Professor, they get it!" Dean Bennet interrupted Kukui's excited speech suddenly, surprising the man. He stopped so suddenly that he bit right down on his tongue, making him leap backwards with a loud "Ow!" as he dropped the 'Rotom' Pokedexes down upon the ground.

The other four members of their group couldn't stop themselves from laughing at the scene, Luke's family now far from his mind. It was the moments like these- the moments where people are talking to him, not the shadows of his family behind him- that Luke truly enjoyed.

"Professor, you-"

The blond tried to speak, but he, like the dean, Miss Damon, and Abby, could not stop their laughing. Tears were going down Luke's eyes as he watched Professor Kukui, a grown man that he had respected and looked up to for nearly his entire life, was pouting after biting on his tongue from being interrupted during an excited monologue.

"Oh, come on!" Kukui pouted some more after the laughter continued another ten seconds. The other four kept going, though, Dean Bennet wheezing slightly from laughing so hard for so long. "It wasn't that funny!" he shouted, pressing his hands up to his face and pouting even more.

After a few more seconds of laughing, they finally were able to stop their cackling. Luke still needed a moment to recover, but Abby, still grinning, stepped forwards and asked the question that had been on each of the four's minds since Kukui said it.

"So, what is this Rotom Pokedex then?"

Kukui, glad to be past his tongue-biting moment, puffed up his chest after hearing the question. "I'm so happy you asked!" he shouted. Composing himself, he explained, "The Rotom Pokedex is exactly what it sounds like: a Pokedex combined with the Pokemon, Rotom!"

Noting the confused looks that were being sent his way after saying that, Kukui spread his hands out in front of him in a welcoming position. "I'm sure that you have heard of how Rotom has several different forms where it combines with common household appliances?"

All of the group, Dean Bennet and Miss Damon included, nodded their heads, having watched famous battles where trainers use Rotoms on their teams. Seeing the understanding, Kukui decided to continue on with his explanation.

"Just recently- within the past few months, I might add! -researchers have finally created a Pokedex that Rotom can enter, and I want you two newbies to use them!" Kukui gradually grew louder as he spoke, nearly shouting again by the end. All four of the rest nearly had their jaws on the ground upon hearing that.

"Rotom can combine with a Pokedex!?"

"Pokemon and technology combined!?"

Miss Damon and Dean Bennet each looked at each other in awe after speaking, the shock apparent on their faces as their eyes grew wide and mouths still agape. Luke and Abby were not much better off than their elders. Both of them were staring at Kukui with wide eyes in disbelief as well.

"We get to have them!?"

"You're giving us a Rotom Pokedex!?"

The professor, as though sensing doubt, decided it was time to show what the tech could do. He picked up the two Pokedexes back off of the ground and shook them a bit, blowing off the dirt and dust. Then, with nothing more than an expectant look at the two Rotoms, the creatures disappeared suddenly, leaving no trace to them.

Instead, the two devices in Professor Kukui's hands began to glow with the same bluish-white glow that the Rotoms had around them. Then, out of nowhere, the Pokedexes grew two arm-like lightning bolts on either of their sides as the screens lit up.

Smirking, the professor then flipped the screens around so that the others could see them. Waiting for them was a pair of blue eyes that looked exactly like the Rotoms' sitting atop of the Pokedexes' screens and mouths right beneath that. The four immediately had their jaws drop yet again, now seeing the amazing feet firsthand for themselves.

"They're truly inside of the devices!" the dean shouted in shock. "This is technology like I have never seen in all of my life!"

Abby and Miss Damon sputtered out similar phrases in disbelief at the amazing sight in front of them. Luke, however, was almost caught in a trance as he looked at the Dex in Kukui's left hand. It contained the excitable Rotom that had been zipping around previously.

The Rotom Dex's lightning bolt arms were moving all over the place and his mouth was shaped in a grin. Luke may have only just met this Pokemon, but the blond could tell that this Pokemon was definitely a handful. It looked as though it was just waiting for the chance to shoot out of its owner's hand and zip around like he did before.

"Here you are, Abby!" Kukui called suddenly, snapping Luke out from his thoughts.

The boy blinked several times in an attempt to focus back on the situation. Unfortunately for him, just as he did, he found four people staring right back at him. His eyes grew wide at the sudden feeling of being stared out. Luke wasn't sure how long that they had been staring at him, nor what had been said while he was zoned out.

"Hmm?" he hummed hesitantly, not sure what was going on.

Chuckling, Kukui said, "Here you are, Luke, ma' boy, your own Rotom Dex!" He then stretched out his left arm towards the blond boy and handed the device to Luke. The blond noticed which Dex that he was being handed, but said nothing, instead deciding to what Kukui said this time. "Sorry you didn't get to choose which one you wanted, but ladies first! No worries, though, this little bugger is quite the helper in battle anyways!"

"Helper?" Abby repeated, unsure what the man meant but grinning in excitement nonetheless. She had hardly looked up for more than a moment after asking before looking back at the Rotom Dex that was now floating around next to her.

"Helper indeed, Miss Abby!" Kukui answered. "These Pokedexes, thanks to Rotom, are able to help much more than the older Pokedexes! They, obviously, are able to speak and actually observe situations, unlike previous generations of the Dexes. Thus, we have arrived at your lesson for the day at the Trainer's School!"

The professor ended his spiel with such enthusiasm that Luke and Abby couldn't help but smile. Before Kukui could explain what he meant, though, the Rotom Dex in Luke's hand apparently grew tired of sitting still. Out of the blue, the Rotom Dex shot into the air, spinning around.

"Woohoo!" it shouted. "Finally get to spread my limbs and goooooo!"

The Rotom Dex was zipping around Luke at such high speeds that the blonde was having problems keeping up with it. Everyone around them, Abby's Rotom Dex included, simply watched the Pokemon-turned-machine as it flew in circles around Luke. Kukui, Abby, Dean Bennet, and Miss Damon all began laughing as Luke's spirits began to fall again, unbeknownst to the rest.

 _'How in hell am I ever going to be able to work with this thing!? If I can't put up with it, I can only wonder how Hood will put up with it!'_

Before he could think on that any further, though, Kukui, finally finished laughing, spoke up again.

"How about we take a break, Rotom?" he asked cheerfully, another ghost of a laugh escaping his lips. "I'd like to get to the point of today soon, so our new trainers here can be on their way to Hau'oli City."

Rotom, after hearing Kukui's plea, finally stopped zipping around Luke's head, much to the blonde's relief. "Fineeeeeee," he called, rolling his bright blue eyes that laid above the screen.

It drooped back down to eye level with its new trainer and stayed silent, though a mischievous look remained in its eyes. With that out of the way, Kukui continued on with his train of thought from before Rotom interrupted him.

"Like I was saying," he began. "Your lesson at the Trainer's School today is to learn to work together with your Rotom Dexes!" Professor Kukui announced. Abby grinned at that, while Luke simply shrugged in acknowledgment. The man smiled and brought his hands up behind his head. "When I heard you both were coming here today, I thought this would be the perfect chance to get you your Rotom Dexes! And to learn to use them! Isn't this just great!?"

Abby nodded her quickly in agreement, a broad smile on her face. Luke, meanwhile, just nodded his head, wishing more than anything that his Rotom Dex would stop acting so annoyingly. Kukui, however, didn't bother thinking past the two of them nodding. Seeing them agree, he stepped closer towards them until he was only two-three feet away.

"When thinking of how to teach you to work with them, I thought 'what better way to learn than in a battle?'" Kukui said with a grin on his face. He then turned towards the dean and Miss Damon and said, "And that is why our lovely hosts are still with us! To make this the formal lesson at the Trainer's School, I asked them to help by battling you! Awesome, right!?"

With that said, both of the school staff members smiled and nodded their heads towards Luke and Abby. They then walked over towards the battlefields next to them, each of them grabbing Pokeballs. The two blondes, knowing what was to come, each walked towards the battlefields, too. Abby went towards Miss Damon while Luke walked over to Dean Bennet. While they were walking, they each grabbed the orbs containing their starter Pokemon.

Luke walked to the battlefield with his Rotom Dex floating along right behind. He held Hood's Pokeball in his right hand as he stared forwards at his opponent. The dean stood proudly with a capsule in his right hand. The man was extremely experienced in battling, Luke guessed, so this wasn't going to be easy. Before he could think any further, though, Kukui's voice cut through.

"Well, everyone!" he began, shouting from in between the battlefields. "These will both be one-on-one battles! The first trainer whose Pokemon is unable to battle will lose! Let's get this going!"

Accompanied by a bright flash, Luke saw Popplio and a black-furred rat appear on the other battlefield. At the same time, he saw a long-bodied, mongoose-like Pokemon appear in front of him. He was covered in brown fur with a yellow stripe down its back and underside. He had short, rounded ears on the sides of its head, a short snout with a pink nose, and a large mouth full of pointed teeth. Having lived in Alola for all of his life, Luke knew exactly what this Pokemon was right away.

"Let's go, Yungoos!" Dean Bennet shouted after releasing the creature.

With his opponent's Pokemon out across from him, Luke decided it was his turn to do the same. He raised his left arm up in front of across his chest as he brought his right arm back. Just when his right hand was right behind his head, Luke swiftly brought his arm forwards, hurling the Pokeball in his hand towards the battlefield.

"Time to shine, Hood!"

In another bright flash of red, Luke's Pokeball split open, releasing the owl Pokemon. Hood appeared out of nowhere, now standing on the battlefield. He stretched out his wings behind him for a moment or two. After he brought them back down to his sides, the Rowlet spun his head around, now looking at his trainer.

Luke nodded his head at the Pokemon, thinking he now understood him better than he used to after his revelation the day before. He smiled slightly at the creature, hoping for something similar to be returned. However, Rowlet just continued to stare at him, confused. Sighing, the blond decided to look past that for now. He could resolve his differences with his Pokemon later; now was the time to battle.

"You can start this battle, Luke," Dean Bennet announced from his side of the battlefield, standing confidently behind his Yungoos.

Nodding his head in thanks, the new trainer thought for a moment of a strategy. A couple of seconds later, he opened his mouth, about to call out the first command of the battle. Just before he could speak, though, the Rotom Dex spoke up.

"Ok, Luke wasn't it!?" he asked suddenly, surprising the teen. Sighing once again, he nodded his head. Smirking, Rotom continued, saying, "I'm supposed to help you out sometimes apparently, so just listen to my advice this time, alright?"

The blond groaned mentally, wishing more than anything that this Pokemon would go away. However, he just nodded his head, deciding he might as well humor both the Pokemon and Professor Kukui before returning the device.

His smirk growing even more, the Rotom began again. "Yungoos is terrible at close range fighting! Attack there!"

The advice was short and sweet, but Luke wasn't so sure on how good the advice was. Sure, he had never battled a Yungoos before, but everything he had heard before made it seem as though Yungoos strived in close-quarters battling. Choosing to listen to the Rotom, though, Luke called out his first command in accordance with the advice.

"Tackle!" he shouted, staring directly at Dean Bennet as he spoke.

The man raised an eyebrow at the command, but said nothing for the moment. Instead, he calmly waited with his arms across his chest as Hood shot down the field, flying as fast as his wings would allow him to. Once the Alolan starter made it the halfway mark, Dean Bennet gave out a command of his own.

"Pursuit!" he ordered, pointing his right index finger forwards at Hood at the same time.

Instantly, the normal type Pokemon shot forwards as a dark spiral of energy formed around him. He and Hood were both moving quickly, so the two Pokemon were bound to meet in seconds. Luke was worried about them colliding, and that worry must have shown.

"Don't dodge that!" Rotom shouted to Luke, grinning like a madman. "Yungoos has terrible attack, remember!? He can take it! Continue on!"

Against hit better judgement, Luke said nothing as Hood went to fight Yungoos head-on. The grass type divebombed the mongoose Pokemon just as it leaped into the air, aiming to ram right into the Rowlet. They collided, but it was clear which Pokemon was the stronger of the two in close-quarters fighting.

Hood, upon being hit by the Pursuit, was sent soaring backwards while Yungoos only looked uncomfortable for a short moment after being hit. It was clear that the normal type was definitely bulky, especially compared to Hood, who landed flat on the ground after being hit.

The bird Pokemon looked to be in pain from the sheer force of the attack and crash landing upon the battlefield. Luke watched his starter with worry in his eyes. Sure, they were not all that close, but this Pokemon was still supposed to be his partner, and it was lying on the ground in pain after only one attack.

"Rotom!" Luke snapped, glaring at the Dex, who was glancing around the area, not looking at Luke. The blond stared at the Pokemon and could've sworn he saw a grin. He said nothing else, though, instead trying to refocus on the battle. "Leafage!" he shouted, hoping to get back in the fight.

Hood was quick to respond. He might've been hurt from Yungoos' attack, but the Rowlet was nowhere near out of the battle yet. He shot back into the sky and after flying upwards about twenty feet, he spun backwards, rotating until his chest was parallel to the ground. From there, Hood zipped forwards, flying towards Yungoos, who was standing on the ground beneath him.

Once the grass type made it directly above his opponent, he swooped downwards, shooting towards the ground. As Hood rocketed towards the ground, five green spheres of energy appeared around him, following his every movement. When the Grass Quill Pokemon was only ten feet above Yungoos, he suddenly stopped, holding his wings out in front of him. The added surface area slowed him down immediately, allowing him to float just above his foe.

As that was happening, the spheres that were floating with Hood shot forwards, rocketing towards Yungoos. Each and every one of the orbs flew at the normal type Pokemon at high speeds. Dean Bennet was quick to call a counter when the attack began.

"Round!" the man ordered.

The Alolan Pokemon opened his mouth and pointed his body upwards, standing on his back legs. He then released a high pitch cry, and a beam of pink energy shot out from his mouth. Falling back to his front feet right afterwards, Yungoos had no time to see how his counter worked before it was too late.

The Leafage blasted straight through Yungoos' attempt at shielding himself from the blow, piercing the beam and continuing onwards towards its target. The normal type Pokemon had no chance to dodge, so he was knocked backwards with each hit.

Luke, definitely seeing the positive side of staying at a range from Yungoos, was about to tell Hood to come back, but before he could, Rotom decided to give some more 'advice.'

"Rush him!" he told the blond. "You've got the perfect chance! He doesn't look he'll get up at all! Finish him!"

Luke was in doubt at how well that plan would work, but he figured that, for Professor Kukui, he would listen. "Peck!" he shouted to Hood, hoping that this would work.

Without any hesitation, Hood, from his spot ten feet above the ground, swooped down in the direction of Yungoos. The normal type Pokemon was still recovering from the Leafage, so this looked to be a good shot for Luke. For a short moment, the blond that the advice from Rotom might have actually been good this time. However, sheer seconds before Hood could hit his foe, Dean Bennet chimed in again, ready for another counter.

"Pursuit!" he shouted, his voice not sounding worried at all.

Just like before, Yungoos shot forwards through a spiral of dark energy, plowing straight into Hood. The Rowlet took the attack head on, but tried his hardest to hit Yungoos anyways. The two Pokemon struggled, Hood pecking at Yungoos' back as the mongoose slashed his claws at the bird's head. Eventually, Hood couldn't take anymore.

Despite dealing some decent damage to his opponent, he could no longer take any more of the close-quarters fight. Hood was knocked backwards after one especially hard shot from Yungoos' right claw. The impact knocked the Grass Quill Pokemon to the ground and sent him somersaulting backwards, back to Luke.

The blond could do nothing but watch as his starter Pokemon rolled towards him, his eyes shut from the pain he endured. Luke couldn't bring himself to watch as Hood came towards him, angry at himself for listening to Rotom's horrible advice yet again. This time, Hood looked as though he was seriously injured. Pivoting on his left foot, Luke turned to glare at the Dex, who was laughing without bothering to hide it.

"You complete idiot!" he roared, no longer caring about humoring the professor. "Your horrible advice just got Hood hurt!" At that, the trainer pointed out at his partner who had stopped rolling towards him and was now stopped, lying on his chest. "You're the reason he is out there in so much pain!"

The Dex blinked rapidly in surprise. Luke wasn't sure if the Pokemon was surprised at his outburst or seeing another Pokemon in so much pain because of him. At that moment, though, he didn't care. Luke just wanted to get rid it.

"Stop trying to help! You're just trying to see Hood get hurt and make us lose!" he shouted. By this point, Dean Bennet, Kukui, and even Abby and Miss Damon from their battle were watching Luke and his Rotom Dex. "After this battle, I'm giving you back to the professor! I have no desire to have you get my Pokemon hurt!"

The teen went to grab his Pokeball to recall Hood, but before he could, the owl began to get back to his feet, slowly staggering up. The Pokemon was staring at Luke with something the blond had never seen in the creature's eyes: surprise.

' _Is he surprised that I care about him!?'_

Before Luke could think any further on that, the Rowlet, now on his feet, pointed his right wing towards Luke's side. Confused, he turned to his left to see the Rotom Dex frowning, his eyes looking down to the ground. He may have said nothing, but Hood's message was clear: _I'm fine. Talk to him._

Luke stared directly at the Dex, unsure of what he could say. He had vocalized his thoughts pretty well, the blond thoughts. Rotom- hell, everyone around- knew how Luke felt about him. However, before Luke could say anything, he heard a quiet phrase come out of the Dex's mouth, something the blond had never imagined he'd hear from the creature.

"I'm sorry."

The whisper was so faint that Luke almost thought that he had made it up in his head. If he hadn't seen Rotom's lips move along with it, he would have thought it was a dream. However, Luke knew that wasn't true; the Pokemon truly felt sorry for what he did.

"I'm sorry," he repeated, saying it louder this time. Rotom looked up, now staring right at Luke. "I didn't want to hurt him, I promise. I just wanted to have some fun…"

The Pokemon spoke with such sincerity that Luke was now almost sure he had to be dreaming. This sudden change of attitude didn't seem real. No one act like this, he thought. The last time he had ever seen someone act like this Rotom was himself back when he was-

' _A kid!'_ he realized suddenly. Just like it had happened with Hood, Luke had a sudden epiphany that made him realize why Rotom was acting the way he was. _'This Rotom must be young! It's probably only just hatched recently!'_

Luke now was looking at the creature with a completely new light. Now that he realized it, there was no denying it. This was probably the first battle Rotom had ever seen, and despite all of the knowledge that came with merging with a Pokedex, Rotom had never seen a Pokemon battle before.

' _That explains his curiosity and bad advice,'_ Luke mused, suddenly feeling horrible for his outburst.

He looked around for a moment, and soon realized that everyone was still staring at him, Hood included. The Pokemon was still looking at him with the same surprised expression, looking as though he had just looked at Luke for the first time. The blond wasn't sure what to think about that, but what he did know was that he owed someone an apology.

"I'm sorry, Rotom," he whispered to the creature. "I didn't know you were so young. I should've been more patient with you."

The Dex's attitude quickly changed once again. Now, he was smiling brightly, the angered outburst seeming to be the furthest thing from his mind.

"It's alright!" he replied, his voice sounding chipper. "Let's put it past us and beat this guy for good!"

Luke, in total agreement, turned back towards Hood and the battle. Looking the owl in the eyes, the blond nodded his head, causing the grass type to reciprocate the action.

 _'We all seem to be in sync now,'_ Luke thought with a grin. _'Now we just need to prove it to all of them!'_

"Keep them at a distance, Luke!" Rotom called, negating his previous 'advice.' He had a look of longing in his eyes as Luke nodded his head in agreement, smiling at the Pokemon.

Kukui was smiling at the scene, while Abby and Miss Damon had gone back to their battle. Those three were not important to Luke at the moment, though. Right then, the only other person that mattered was the one standing across from him: Dean Bennet.

"Let's get this going again!" Luke shouted. "Leafage!"

Without any hesitation, Hood shot into the air. Five more orbs of green energy appeared, but they were all bigger than they were last time. This time, Luke thought, Hood was ready to end this battle.

Yungoos and Hood both took a lot of damage from their close-quarters skirmish, he knew. It seemed to just be a question of who would take the next hit in Luke's mind. Both Pokemon were banged up slightly with some cuts to show for their battling.

Hood wasn't letting that affect him, though. He was flying just as fast as ever as he shot towards his opponent. Yungoos didn't look ready to concede either. He was breathing heavily as he waited for his foe to come towards him, but he looked more than eager to keep fighting. As Hood came closer, Dean Bennet decided to act.

"Round!" he shouted with a tone of finality.

Like Luke, the man believed that the battle was about end. It was anyone guess who was going to come out on top, though. As Hood was coming closer and closer, Yungoos was charging up a ball of pink energy in his mouth. In a few seconds, the battle was going to heat up to the max.

Hood, now only fifteen feet away from Yungoos, dove down towards the ground quickly, surprising both the normal type and his trainer. Before he collided with the ground, however, the Alolan starter pulled up, flying parallel to the earth but only a foot off of the ground.

Just then, Yungoos released his attack, letting out another high-pitched screech as the beam left his mouth. The Round shot forwards with such speed that Luke was getting worried. However, Hood was more than ready. Like the last time, he pulled his wings out in front of him, stopping his flight suddenly. The orbs continued on again.

Unlike last time, though, the Leafage didn't immediately blast through. The Round attack was definitely stronger. The two special attacks struggled in an almost tug-of-war-like fashion. For a bit, it looked like Leafage would win out. The next second, it looked like Round would. Soon, however, the victor stood out.

Thanks to Hood's higher special attack, the Leafage began to prevail after a few more moments' wrestling. It surged forwards, dissolving the Round completely and going for Yungoos. The normal type Pokemon had no chance of dodging; he was struck instantly. He fainted on contact, leaving Hood as the winner.

"Yes!" Luke cheered. "We did it!"

"Hooooooray!" Rotom was smiling so proudly as Hood flew towards them casually. The Dex was grinning so widely that Luke thought it might be hurting.

"Thank youuuuu for listening to meeee!" Rotom told the blond, suddenly, surprising the blond. "I'm so sorry for the beginning, I promise!"

Luke couldn't help but smile at the Pokemon, any last trace of anger completely gone.

"Don't worry about it, Rotom," he said honestly.

"Roto!" the Dex interrupted. "Call me Roto! Hood has a name, so I want one, toooooooo!"

Luke thought about it for a second and then nodded his head.

"Sounds like a good name to me!" he agreed with a smile.

"Yaaaaaaay!"

As Hood walked towards him and Rotom- no Roto- spun around in front of him, Luke's family was the last thing on his mind. For once, they were completely gone. He loved his family, he truly did, but with his team here, for just then, it felt like he found another family. And with them, he could truly be himself.

He could shine.

 **000**

After some final goodbyes, Luke and Abby were ready to go. They were standing outside the gate of the Trainer's School with Kukui, Dean Bennet, and Miss Damon on the other side. The three adults were smiling and waving at them as the teens began to walk away, finally headed to Hau'oli City once again.

"Thank you so much!" Abby said once again as they were leaving.

The adults waved off the thanks with smiles on their faces.

"Go kick some butt in the Island Challenge, and we'll call that thanks enough," Miss Damon said with a wink.

Luke, meanwhile, was looking right at Kukui as he and Abby were walking away. He couldn't find a way to put exactly was he was feeling into words, but he figured Kukui already knew pretty close to what he was feeling.

"Thank you," he said finally, looking more to Kukui than anyone else. "Thank you."

The professor nodded his head, smiling brightly at the teen.

"It was my pleasure. Like Miss Damon said, go kick some butt!"

With that, the final goodbyes were given, and Luke and Abby finally left, no longer looking back. Luke had a new family, he knew now. With them, there was nothing he couldn't do.

 _'Just you wait, Ace,'_ he thought, thinking of the Champion. _'Someday soon, my team and I will beat you.'_

 **000**

While Luke and Abby were at the Trainer's School, Ace was leaning against a boulder at the Ruins of Conflict. His eyes were shut, but as soon as he started to hear footsteps coming towards him, they opened up lazily and he turned his head towards the entrance of the shrine.

"You're always late," he said simply to the figure as he walked in.

The figure was a grown man, probably in his mid-thirties. He had brown hair and wore jeans with a red long-sleeve shirt. He had a grin on his face, despite leaving a man as powerful as Ace Soldat waiting.

"Oh relax, Ace," the man said simply. "I wanted to be here sooner, but Alola's a helluva lot hotter than I'm used to in Sinnoh. Besides, I had someone I wanted to see."

Rolling his eyes, Ace said, "Oh well. Should we get down to business?"

Nodding his head, the older man answered, "Oh, I suppose. I do have a trial to watch soon anyways. Let's get this going."

* * *

 **This chapter took a lot longer than I would've liked, but I'm happy with it honestly. Whenever I finally got to the scene where Kukui entered, everything really began to finalize in my head. From then, it was just finding the time to write, because everything was coming together nicely. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it!**

 **And just so everyone knows, Roto won't be advising every battle with Luke like he did this chapter. This was just the introductory chapter for it, so I had to show off what Roto can do. No need to worry. This definitely** _ **will not**_ **be happening often.**

 **1\. Thoughts on the Rotom Dexes?**

 **2\. Who was that at the end?**

 **3\. Thoughts on Luke so far, now that we're five chapters in finally?**

 **4\. What do you think happens next chapter?**

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** _Battling for Brunch?_

Finally in Hau'oli City, Luke and Abby decide to get something to eat. They head over to the mall to find a place called the Battle Buffet. Naturally, the two new trainers had to check it out. However, the day doesn't quite end on a positive note for Luke. What could go wrong with brunch!?

* * *

 **Melemele Arc**

 **Chapter 7:** _Standoff in the Sand!_

 **Chapter 8:** _First Taste of a Trial_

 **Chapter 9:** _Dimming the Star_

 **Chapter 10:** _Feeling the Heat!_


End file.
